1.  “Ulysses” Introduction

Alfred Lord Tennyson’s “Ulysses” is a dramatic monologue written in 1833 and published in 1842. The poem presents the voice of the legendary Greek hero Ulysses (Odysseus) after his return to Ithaca following the Trojan War. Despite his age and domestic responsibilities, Ulysses feels restless and unfulfilled by a quiet life at home. Through the poem, Tennyson explores themes of adventure, the human desire for knowledge and experience, the inevitability of ageing, and the refusal to succumb to complacency. The work reflects both classical heroism and Victorian ideals of perseverance and personal growth.

1.1 Full Title & Alternate Name

• Full Title: Ulysses

• Alternate Title: Sometimes called The Odyssey Retold (modern description, not original)

1.2 Genre

• Dramatic Monologue

• Philosophical Poem

1.3 Subgenres

• Victorian Heroic Lyric

• Meditation on Ageing

• Inspirational Verse

1.4 Structure of the Poem

• Form: Blank verse (unrhymed iambic pentameter)

• Length: ~70 lines (single speech by Ulysses)

• Style: Continuous flow of thought, no stanzas

• Mode: Address to self, subjects, and companions

1.5 Setting & Subject

• Setting: Ithaca, after Ulysses’ return from the Trojan War and his wanderings

• Subject: Ulysses’ restless spirit, refusing to remain idle in old age

• Tone: Defiant, reflective, noble, yearning

1.6 Composing Time

• Written in 1833, after the death of Hallam

• Published in: 1842 (Poems)

1.7 Inspiration

• Based on Homer’s Odysseus (Ulysses) and Dante’s Inferno (Canto 26)

• Reflection of: Tennyson’s grief for Hallam → striving for purpose despite loss

• Autobiographical undertone: Tennyson himself yearning for perseverance

1.8 Literary References & Contrasts

• Homer’s Odyssey: Ulysses as the restless wanderer

• Dante’s Inferno: Ulysses as the doomed seeker of knowledge beyond human limits

• Contrast: Domestic duty (Ithaca, Telemachus) vs. heroic yearning (adventure, discovery)

1.9 Influence & Adaptations

• Impact: Hugely influential as a poem of perseverance and resilience

• Modern Mentions: Frequently quoted in motivational speeches and literature

• Cited by: Modern Figures of Speech: (e.g., JFK, T.S. Eliot, and more)

1.10 Famous Lines

  “I cannot rest from travel: I will drink life to the lees.”
  “I am a part of all that I have met.”
  “As tho’ to breathe were life, ‘To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.’”

1.11 Key Themes

• Restlessness of the Human Spirit—desire to keep seeking knowledge

• Aging & Death—confronting mortality with courage

• Perseverance—resilience as moral virtue

• Legacy & Duty—contrast between Ulysses’ heroic spirit and Telemachus’ steady governance

1.12 Symbolism

• Ulysses: Represents the eternal seeker, symbol of human ambition

• Ithaca: Domestic life, duty, stability (contrasts Ulysses’ restlessness)

• Telemachus: Order, patience, practicality vs. Ulysses’ adventurous spirit

• Sea/Voyage: The unknown, symbolic of life’s continual quest

1.13 Narrative Voice & Tone

• Voice: Ulysses himself, in dramatic monologue

• Tone progression:
  o Dissatisfaction with domestic life
  o Reflection on past glories and present restlessness
  o Inspiring call to companions to continue seeking beyond old age

1.14 Overall Tone

• Mood: Heroic, defiant, inspiring

• Blend: Personal melancholy with universal call to perseverance

2. Summary

In Ulysses, Tennyson gives voice to the legendary Greek hero who, even in old age and after returning to Ithaca, refuses to accept a life of idleness and domestic routine. Ulysses reflects on his past adventures and insists that life is meant for continuous striving, seeking, and discovery until death itself. While he entrusts his son Telemachus with the duties of governance, Ulysses longs for the sea and calls upon his old companions to join him in one final voyage toward the unknown. The poem stands as a stirring meditation on ageing, mortality, and the indomitable spirit of perseverance—immortalised in its closing line: “To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.”

3. Ulysses (1842)

It is little profit that an idle king,

By this still hearth, among these barren crags,

Matched with an aged wife, I measure and dole

Unequal laws unto a savage race,

They hoard, and sleep, and feed, and know not me.

I cannot rest from travel: I will drink

Life to the lees: All times I have enjoyed'd

Greatly, have suffered, both with those

That loved me, and alone, on shore, and when

Thro' scudding drifts the rainy Hyades

Vext the dim sea: I am become a name;

For always roaming with a hungry heart

Much have I seen and known; through men

And manners, climates, councils, governments,

Myself not least, but honoured of them all;

And drunk delight of battle with my peers,

Far on the ringing plains of windy Troy.

I am a part of all that I have met;

Yet all experience is an arch wherethro'

Gleams that untraveled world whose margin fades

Forever and ever when I move.

How dull it is to pause, to make an end,

To rust unburnished, not to shine in use!

As though to breathe were life! Life piled on life

We're all too little, and of one to me

Little remains, but every hour is saved

From that eternal silence, something more,

A bringer of new things, and vile it was

For some three suns to store and hoard myself,

And this grey spirit yearning in desire

To follow knowledge like a sinking star,

Beyond the utmost bound of human thought.

         This is my son, my own Telemachus.

To whom I leave the sceptre and the isle,—

Well-loved by me, discerning to fulfil

This labour, by slow prudence to make mild

A rugged people, and through soft degrees

Subdue them to the useful and the good.

Most blameless is he, centred in the sphere

Of common duties, decent not to fail

In offices of tenderness, and pay

Meet adoration to my household gods,

When I am gone. He works his work, I mine.

         There lies the port; the vessel puffs her sail.

There is gloom in the dark, broad seas. My mariners,

Souls that have toiled, and wrought, and thought with me—

That ever with a frolic welcome took

The thunder and the sunshine, opposed

Free hearts, free foreheads—you and I are old;

Old age hath yet his honour and his toil;

Death closes all: but something ere the end,

Some work of noble note may yet be done.

Not unbecoming men that strove with gods.

The lights begin to twinkle from the rocks:

The long day wanes: the slow moon climbs: the deep

Moans round with many voices. Come, my friends,

'''Tis too late to seek a newer world.

Push off, and sitting well in order smite

The sounding furrows; for my purpose holds

To sail beyond the sunset, and the baths

Of all the Western stars, until I die.

It may be that the gulfs will wash us down:

It may be we shall touch the Happy Isles,

And see the great Achilles, whom we knew.

Tho much is taken, much abides; and tho'

We are not now that strength which in old days

Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are;

One equal temper of heroic hearts,

Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will

To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.

4. Line-by-Line Explanation

4.1 Lines 1–5

“It little profits that an idle king,
By this still hearth, among these barren crags,
Match’d with an aged wife, I mete and dole.
Unequal laws unto a savage race,
That hoard, and sleep, and feed, and know not me.”

• Literal Meaning: Ulysses complains that, as an idle old king, staying home with his aged wife and ruling simple-minded people, life feels unprofitable.

• Symbolic Meaning: Domestic life and ordinary duties feel empty to a man of heroic ambition; Ulysses symbolises the restless human spirit.

4.2 Lines 6–18

“I cannot rest from travel: I will drink.

Life to the lees...”

• Literal Meaning: Ulysses says he cannot rest from travelling; he has fully experienced life, through joy, suffering, companionship, solitude, battles, and travels across many lands.

• Symbolic Meaning: Life is meant for experience, adventure, and action. His “hungry heart” symbolises eternal human curiosity and the need for exploration.

4.3 Lines 19–32

“I am a part of all that I have met...”

• Literal Meaning: Ulysses reflects that all experience leads him to seek more. Stopping would be dull; to merely exist is not to live. Even with little time left, every moment must bring discovery.

• Symbolic Meaning: Knowledge and exploration are infinite pursuits. Life’s value is in striving, not in passive existence. The “sinking star” symbolises unattainable but inspiring goals.

4.4 Lines 33–43

“This is my son, my own Telemachus...”

• Literal Meaning: Ulysses turns to his son Telemachus, who will wisely and patiently rule Ithaca with prudence and duty.

• Symbolic Meaning: Telemachus represents domestic order, continuity, and responsibility, while Ulysses embodies heroic striving and adventure. The contrast shows two legitimate paths in life.

4.5 Lines 44–53

“There lies the port; the vessel puffs her sail...”

• Literal Meaning: Ulysses turns to his old comrades, urging them to take to the sea once again, despite their age, to achieve something noble before death.

• Symbolic Meaning: Old age should not mean resignation. True greatness lies in striving for noble goals until the very end.

4.6 Lines 54–70

“The lights begin to twinkle from the rocks...”

• Literal Meaning: As twilight falls, Ulysses calls his companions to sail toward unknown lands, even if death awaits. He envisions meeting great heroes like Achilles in the afterlife. Though weakened, they remain united in spirit and resolve.

• Symbolic Meaning: Life’s meaning is in courage, perseverance, and continuous striving. The final line sums up the eternal human spirit: to never surrender to fate but to seek purpose until the end.

5. Major Figures of Speech: of Speech

• Dramatic Monologue: The entire poem is Ulysses’ speech, revealing his character.

• Metaphor:

• “Drink life to the lees” = live life to the fullest.

• “Arch wherethro’ / Gleams that untravell’d world” = experience as a gateway to new knowledge.

• “Rust unburnish’d” = wasted life without use.

• “Sinking star” = unreachable but inspiring knowledge.

• Symbolism:

• Ulysses = restless human spirit.

• Telemachus = domestic duty, patience.

• Sea/voyage = quest for discovery and meaning.

• Happy Isles = afterlife, eternal reward.

• Imagery: Vivid natural scenes — hearth, crags, ships, twilight, moon, sea.

• Allusion: References to Homer’s Odyssey, Dante’s Inferno, and Trojan War heroes (Achilles).

• Contrast/Antithesis:

• Ulysses vs. Telemachus → adventure vs. duty.

• Old age vs. youthful spirit.

• Domestic life vs. heroic quest.

• Repetition/Parallelism: Final lines — “To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield” (rhetorical climax).

• Personification: “Death closes all” (Death as active force).

Conclusion:

Tennyson’s “Ulysses” is a timeless celebration of the human spirit’s unyielding quest for purpose and adventure. Through the voice of the aged hero, the poem contrasts the quiet responsibilities of domestic life with the relentless desire for exploration and achievement. It emphasises perseverance, courage, and the refusal to succumb to complacency, portraying life as a journey meant to be fully lived, even in the face of ageing and mortality. The closing line—“To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield”—encapsulates the poem’s enduring message: true greatness lies in continual striving and the pursuit of one’s ideals until the very end.