"Crossing the Bar" by Alfred, Lord Tennyson

"I hope to see my Pilot face to face When I have crossed the bar." Lines 15-16

       I can finally interpret a poem easily! For once in my short career of poem analysis, I believe I completely understand what the writer's purpose was. The "sand bar" being crossed is death. The ocean, which is "asleep" and calm, is heaven. Finally, and most obviously, the "pilot" of the ship is God. The "call" the speaker hears is God calling him home, the time of his death. The speaker wants "no sorrow" when he leaves. He wants only simplicity and a calm departure, which could be interpreted as a quick and easy death. However I doubt that this analysis is entirely true, since he speaks of "returning home". You don't return home after dying, do you? Unless of course "home" is heaven and unity with God. In any case, I am confusing myself even more. I'll quit while I am ahead.