The beginning of the second quatrain sees Shakespeare describing himself as “the twilight of such a day” the end of daylight but the start of night. He sees himself in the “twilight” of his years and is starting to accept this. “Sunset fadeth in the west” As the sun goes down in the west all there is ahead is darkness. This emphasises the fact that Shakespeare has come to a certain stage of his life where he has nothing to look forward to other than the darkness of the night (death).
Unlike the previous two lines, the third and fourth lines of this quatrain are almost the complete opposite. It does not show Shakespeare accepting death and old age, instead his frustration and anger shines through. “Which by and by black night doth take away” The language Shakespeare has used is extremely effective. “Take away” gives the impression of the night is stealing the daylight, which is a negative image. “Death’s second self” is sleep and death is like the eternal sleep. “Seals up all in rest” this portrays a tomb or coffin that no one can escape from when they are dead. Shakespeare is evidently terrified of death he knows that one day he will never wake up and there’s nothing he can do about it.
Throughout this quatrain Shakespeare compares himself to darkness that is brought on by the setting of the sun. The sun is taken as a metaphor for his life and as it fades away so does his life.
“In me thou seest the glowing of such a fire
That on the ashes of his youth doth lie”
In the final quatrain Shakespeare compares himself to a fire that it about to burn out completely. As the fire burns out his life burns away too. All that remains are from the fire are the ashes of his youth and they are nothing more than memories from the past. Shakespeare has chosen a fire because it resembles a human because both need fuel to survive. “Consum’d with that which it was nourished by.” Destroyed by the very thing that fed it.
Shakespeare finishes the sonnet with a rhyming couplet.
“This thou perciev’st which makes thy love more strong,
To love that well which thou must leave ere long.”
This summarises the whole sonnet, the message he is sending it to a friend he is basically saying that make the most of me before its too late.
Crossing the Bar simply means crossing the barrier “ Sunset and evening star” already Tennyson uses two positive images. Like Shakespeare, Tennyson is referring to the end of the day to represent the end of his life but he uses the evening star, which is a romantic and tranquil image. As well as that the stars are only seen until daylight returns and the sunset replaces the darkness.
“And one clear call for me,
And may there be no moaning of the bar,
When I put out to sea,”
These three lines in the first stanza prove that Tennyson believes that death is crossing the bar or boundary into an everlasting life, nothing like Shakespeare who believes it is an eternal sleep. “One clear call” this could be the distinct call of death yearning for him to cross the bar. “May there be no moaning of the bar,” Tennyson accepts death, he want a peaceful one and he is not afraid of it dissimilar to Shakespeare who seems to resent it. When he dies he does not want anyone to grieve for him, as he himself will not. “When I put out to sea” he sees death as the beginning of a new journey. This shows that he thinks dying is just the start of the journey. Whereas Shakespeare sees it as the end of a journey. All he wants to do is quietly slip out of his current life to his next one and most of all he is not going to try and prevent this from happening.
“But such a tide as moving seems asleep,” the first line of the second stanza seems to imply that life goes by gradually and before you know it death creeps up on you without you realising it is coming as it seems to be so far off. This line also captures the peaceful tone of the poem and presents an image of gentle, rolling waves to the reader.
“When that which drew from out the boundless deep
Turns again home”
You came from the immeasurable sea (god) and now you turn back home again. The point Tennyson is trying to get across it that you come from god and when you die you are going back to him. From this we can see that Tennyson believes in god and thinks that when you die you would go to god. Shakespeare on the other hand shows no belief in god or afterlife instead he reveals self-pity.
“Twilight and evening bell” yet again Tennyson it on about the end of the day when everyone has gone home. “After that the dark” The darkness of night symbolises his death and the beginning of his journey into the afterlife.
“And may there be no sadness or farewell” another implication that Alfred Lord Tennyson does not want anyone to mourn over his death; he does not want it to be a depressing occasion. Additionally he is saying do not say goodbye to me because it is not the end we will meet again “When I embark;” get on board to the other side of the bar, meaning when he dies.
“For tho’ from out our bourne of Time and Place,” Here Tennyson is explaining that afterlife is beyond our comprehension, we cannot image it and there is no time or place once we have passed away. “Time” and “Place” are capitalised to emphasise their infinite states. Tennyson goes on to write “I hope to see my pilot face to face,” this single sentence exposes Tennyson attitude towards religion he hopes to see god face to face. “Pilot” has a capital letter to highlight the importance of the word. Pilot is known as a navigator who guides someone hence god guides Tennyson. The final line of the poem is ”when I have crost the bar.” This is Tennyson’s way of describing death.
After analysing Sonnet 73 and Crossing the Bar it is clear that Tennyson and Shakespeare attitudes toward old age and death are entirely opposite. Shakespeare is bitter towards old age and death but he is also livid and aggravated by it. This is understandable, as Shakespeare shows no religious belief about death. Therefore he has nothing to look forward too when he dies. Alternatively Tennyson accepts death and sees it as journey. He is a religious man and believes in god, that is why his attitude towards death is optimistic. I think that this is the key reason that Shakespeare and Tennyson views are different because of the beliefs of the afterlife
