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Composed by Tennyson in 1833, subsequent to the death of his best friend, Arthur Henry Hallam,
Ulysses was published in 1842. The poems central concern is courage in face of overwhelming despair
and odds. However, the poem resists a straightforward reading where readers are drawn into a social
and psychological barrier of life to the eventual versus defiance in the face of the inevitable. Some critics
argue that Ulysses is a dramatic monologue and the reader of the poem and the silent mariners are the
addressed people. Ulysses never gave up his thirst for adventure even at a very old age and this poem is
a milestone for the readers who seek some motivation. This essay will critically interpret the poem
Ulysses.

In Tennysons poem, Ulysses - the legendary ruler of Ithaca - returns home to his kingdom after a series
of marvelous adventures overseas. He is portrayed as old but ambitious, thirsting for glories, all the
while rebutting the finality of death and the need to slow down. The format of the poem is rather
intriguing. Only twenty six lines of the poem are devoted to Ulysses own egotistical proclamation of his
zeal for the wandering life, and another twenty six lines to the exhortation of his mariners to roam the
seas with him. Only eleven lines of indifferent praise are given to his son, Telemachus ability to govern
the kingdom, and only two words to his aged wife Penelope. Ulysses own words reveal his
irresponsibility and his specificity of purpose. The poem is Victorian in its thematic intent which is
polemic and self-contradictory. A life which lacks aggression and action creates stagnancy while leading
to disruption, disquietude and breakdown of normalcy. Family and home are sacrificed at the altar of
ambition. The question that the poem posits is whether or not life that has accepted a status quo is
worth living. It is deliberate that Tennyson chose Ulysses, not Odysseus as the title for his poem. Ulysses
is a Latinized version of Homers Odysseus. The former has shades of deceitfulness and wiliness in his
characters which are very subtly hinted at in the latter. In Dantes Inferno, Ulysses is already damned.

The tragedy to which Tennyson remains sentient is Ulysses Faustian desire to overreach and not respect
the limits. An unbalanced unfulfilled life is bound to create problems for ourselves and those who come
into contact with us. The poem obliquely critiques the diachronic slant of British imperialism without
which England could never ever have become a global superpower but a superpower that brought
devastation to its colonies and caused a breakdown in the traditional family structure in its homeland.
Heroism has its own irresistible charisma and this is why Tennyson pens a eulogy to Ulysses who
symbolizes the souls listless unquenchable thirst for the extraordinary:

Gleams that untraveled world whose margin fades

For ever and for ever when I move.

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For Ulysses, 'experience is an arch wherethro' Gleams that unraveled world whose margin fades for ever
and ever when I move'. Through this he is showing us that, the more we know, the more we realize we
do not know. The 'margin' is the horizon, which diminishes as we get more distant from it by moving on
through life. The repetition of 'ever' show there is so much more to see and do. Ulysses says that it is
wrong to 'rust unburnish'd, not to shine in use! Here, he is comparing our talents to a sword, saying that
we should not let it rust, but use it to the maximum. The exclamation at the end of the line shows his
strong reaction to this. Ulysses wants more and this is conveyed by ' As tho' to breathe were life. Life
piled on life were all too little', which shows that simply breathing is not enough. The repetition and
alliteration of 'life', gives the impression of being restricted. Tennyson has made effective use of a
caesura in 'Little remains: but every hour is saved' to emphasize the fact that Ulysses is contemplating
how much time he has left and what can be done about it. Fascination with lifes mystery fuels new
discoveries and propels humans to move on. But at the end of the day one need to accept lifes
limitations. Without a solid anchorage, movement becomes a futile exercise; without a breather
ambition brings listlessness. The poem intelligently incorporates the humdrum and the ordinary.
Ulysses adventures are realizable only because someone with a sensible head takes care of the routine
so that anarchy does not ensue as a natural and inevitable corollary to moving on without a care in the
world. Ulysses homecoming and his much needed respite from his strenuous exploits is only possible
because his wife, Penelope, and his son, Telemachus, take care of his home in his absentia.

In conclusion, it is significant that Tennysons Ulysses respects differences even though, in his
restlessness and his exclusive focus on a promising future, he refers to them perfectly. The poem
eulogizes the human spirit which refuses to submit to the delimitations of age and the passage of time
time that gradually wears down the body. An elegy to a glory whose climacteric is past, the poem is
nevertheless a path to mans irrepressible spirit:

Old age hath yet his honor and his toil.

Death closes all; but something ere the end,

Some work of noble note, may yet be done

Word count: 920

Works Cited:
1) Sr B Ulysses [Video file]. (n.d.). Retrieved July 13, 2017, from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8GWMCiq-qU
2) Alfred, L. T. (n.d.). Ulysses by Alfred, Lord Tennyson. Retrieved July 12, 2017, from
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/45392/ulysses
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