does anyone remember

that weird "Crossing Over" show that used to be on TV? where some guy could "contact" dead people. weird. anyway... on to relevant things:

"Crossing the Bar" is about death. of course. but, it doesn't make death the bad guy or anything. in fact, the speaker doesn't even want people sad when he's gone: "and may there be no sadness of farewell/When I embark". Throughout the poem, the speaker makes it pretty clear that he's come to terms with death. he's not afraid of it. he knows it's inevitable, so he's accepting of it. he's got no resignations about life, so he's good to go whenever. the whole image of a sandbar is really interesting to me too. I see it as three very distinct phases: before the bar is where the waves are crashing and things are tumultuous. that part represents life. the sandbar is the "crossing over" point, the "one clear call" that takes him from life to the third phase: the afterlife where it's calm and tranquil. it's the place where he "hope[s] to see [his] Pilot face to face". where he aspires to see God and meet him personally.

this hope is a looking to the future sort of hope whereas in "The Oxen", the hope is more nostalgic and looking backward.