Crossing the Bar

Senator Robert C. Byrd died this morning, June 28th, at the age of 92. He had served in the Senate for more than half a century, long enough to allow his thinking on various issues to evolve. Opposed to the war in Iraq, he fought hard against Congress ceding its Constitutional authority to declare war to the Executive Branch. His speech, "Today I weep for my country," is available at the link below. He referred to his early membership in the KKK and his early bigotry as an albatross he would forever wear around his neck, and said in 2005, "I know now I was wrong. Intolerance had no place in America. I apologized a thousand times... and I don't mind apologizing over and over again. I can't erase what happened." An intelligent man with a gift for oratory, he loved the Senate, the Constitution and poetry. He commemorated National Poetry Month in 2001 by reciting Tennyson’s "Crossing the Bar"

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.

http://byrd.senate.gov/ ... /byrd_speeches_2003march_list_1.html