The bar in Tennyson's "Crossing the Bar" is a symbol for the___________

Analyze the question: It asks what the "bar" symbolizes in Tennyson's poem "Crossing the Bar" (1889).

Explain the concept: In the poem, the speaker uses an extended metaphor of a ship leaving harbour for the open sea. The "bar" is the sandbar at a harbour's mouth, which a ship must cross to leave the shore and enter the deep ocean. Tennyson uses this image for death and the passage into the afterlife.

Step-by-step solution:

1. The opening line, "Sunset and evening star, / And one clear call for me!", suggests the end of life, as the day ends.
2. "And may there be no moaning of the bar, / When I put out to sea" means the speaker hopes to die peacefully, without grief or fear. The "moaning" is the sound of waves over the sandbar, which stands for mourning.
3. "Put out to sea" stands for leaving earthly life and entering eternity.
4. The "bar" is therefore the threshold between the harbour (life) and the open sea (the afterlife). That makes it the boundary between life and death.
5. Checking the other options: • A. God appears in the figure of the "Pilot" in the last stanza ("I hope to see my Pilot face to face"), not in the bar. • B. The bar is not the world. The harbour is closer to earthly life, and the bar is the limit of it. • D. The poem is not about the grave. It is about a peaceful passage beyond death.

Answer: The bar symbolizes the boundary between life and death, which is option C.

Tip: For symbol questions in poetry, trace the whole metaphor. Here the harbour is life, the bar is the crossing point, the sea is the afterlife, and the Pilot is God. If you remember that set of images, you can answer any question on this poem.