Sunday, June 26, 2011

Sunday poetry - Lord Tennyson

I remember reading Tennyson's (picture from here) Idylls of the King many years ago when I was going through an Arthurian phase & I've dipped into In Memoriam & some of his other work. Tennyson was one of the great figures of the 19th century. Poet Laureate, friend of the great & good, he was the embodiment of "The Poet" in the Victorian Age. He's also one of the first poets of our modern world of recorded speech. Here you can hear Tennyson reading his most famous poem, The Charge of the Light Brigade.
I like this poem, Crossing the Bar, because it's quiet & contemplative, the right feeling for a Sunday poem.

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 crossed the bar.

2 comments:

  1. Lovely to read that again - one of my absolute favourites. Thank you!

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  2. I certainly prefer Tennyson's shorter poems & I do love this one. Very subdued & beautiful. I'm glad you enjoyed reading it again.

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