For a poem about death, this is actually pretty inspirational.

The heavy symbolism utilized by Alfred, Lord Tennyson in his poem Crossing the Bar, actually makes for a pleasant read. This was a nice respite after enduring the morbidity of A Rose for Emily and The Lottery. Each stanza of the poem represents a different view related to God and heaven. For instance, the line "And one clear call for me!" (Tennyson, 886) symbolizes the speaker's dedication to God and desire to live solely for His will. In the second stanza, the lines "Turns again home" and "When I embark" in the third stanza (Tennyson, 886) represent the death of the speaker, and his journey back to the Lord or to heaven.  Moreover, the line "I hope to see my Pilot face to face when I have crossed the bar" (Tennyson, 886) refer to the speaker's desire to face the Lord in heaven after his life is over. The symbolism is confirmed by the capitalization of "Pilot"; the reader can assume this is referring to a higher being. Though this story is also about death, it presents a different viewpoint. The poem portrays death in a positive light. Furthermore, Tennyson presents life not as something that one should fear to lose, but rather something that one should utilize to ensure a greater eternity; he presents death as a journey and death and heaven as the desitination.