Farewell Service

Hymns, readings and a printed program for a Christian funeral

Crossing the Bar

by Alfred Tennyson (1809–1892)

Reads in about 1 minute16 linesChristian

Add to my planLarge print for the reader

Sunset and evening star,
And one clear call for me!
And may there be no moaning of the bar,
When I put out to sea,

But such a tide as moving seems asleep,
Too full for sound and foam,
When that which drew from out the boundless deep
Turns again home.

Twilight and evening bell,
And after that the dark!
And may there be no sadness of farewell,
When I embark;

For tho' from out our bourne of Time and Place
The flood may bear me far,
I hope to see my Pilot face to face
When I have crost the bar.

About this text

Poet
Alfred Tennyson, 1809–1892
Printing used
Demeter and Other Poems (1889)
First published
1889
Public domain
This printing 1889, before 1931
Often chosen
for dad, for grandma, for a man, for a woman, christian, short