⚓ Ulysses – Alfred Lord Tennyson
✍️ Poet Introduction
Alfred Lord Tennyson (1809–1892) was a major Victorian poet and Poet Laureate of Great Britain. His poetry reflects:
Heroism and perseverance
Emotional depth and philosophical reflection
Ulysses (1842) is one of his most famous dramatic monologues.
📜 About the Poem
Ulysses is based on the Greek hero Odysseus (called Ulysses in Latin). After returning home to Ithaca from the Trojan War, he feels restless and dissatisfied with ordinary life.
The poem reflects:
Desire for adventure
Refusal to accept old age
Quest for knowledge
It is written as a dramatic monologue.
📖 Summary
Ulysses, now an old king of Ithaca, feels bored ruling his people. He longs to travel again and seek new experiences. He contrasts himself with his son Telemachus, who is responsible and practical.
In the final part, Ulysses calls upon his old sailors to sail with him once more, declaring his famous line:
“To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.”
Ulysses – Line-by-Line Explanation
By Alfred Lord Tennyson
Stanza 1
“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.”
Ulysses says it is useless for him to remain an inactive king. He sits by the fireplace in his rocky kingdom (Ithaca), ruling a rough and uncivilized people. He feels disconnected from them. They only eat, sleep, and store wealth—they do not understand his heroic spirit.
“I cannot rest from travel: I will drink
Life to the lees:”
He cannot stop exploring. “Drink life to the lees” means he wants to experience life fully, to the last drop.
“All times I have enjoy’d
Greatly, have suffer’d greatly, both with those
That loved me, and alone; on shore, and when
Thro’ scudding drifts the rainy Hyades
Vext the dim sea:”
He remembers his adventurous past. He has felt deep joy and pain—both with his companions and alone. He has faced storms at sea (the Hyades were a star group associated with rain and storms).
“I am become a name;
For always roaming with a hungry heart
Much have I seen and known; cities of men
And manners, climates, councils, governments,”
He has become famous (“a name”). His curious heart has led him to explore many places and learn about different cultures and governments.
“Myself not least, but honour’d of them all;”
He was respected everywhere.
“And drunk delight of battle with my peers,
Far on the ringing plains of windy Troy.”
He recalls fighting bravely in the Trojan War (at Troy).
“I am a part of all that I have met;”
Every experience has shaped his identity.
“Yet all experience is an arch wherethro’
Gleams that untravell’d world whose margin fades
For ever and for ever when I move.”
Experience is like an archway—through it, he sees new, unexplored worlds. But as he moves forward, new horizons always appear. Knowledge and exploration never end.
“How dull it is to pause, to make an end,
To rust unburnish’d, not to shine in use!”
He believes it is shameful to stop living actively. Like metal that rusts when unused, a person becomes useless without action.
“As tho’ to breathe were life! Life piled on life
Were all too little, and of one to me
Little remains:”
Simply breathing is not true living. Even many lifetimes would not be enough for him. Now, only a short time remains.
“but every hour is saved
From that eternal silence, something more,
A bringer of new things;”
Each hour before death (“eternal silence”) is precious and brings new possibilities.
“and vile it were
For some three suns to store and hoard myself,
And this gray spirit yearning in desire
To follow knowledge like a sinking star,
Beyond the utmost bound of human thought.”
It would be shameful to waste even a few days. His aging spirit still desires to chase knowledge endlessly, like a star sinking beyond the horizon.
Stanza 2
“This is my son, mine own Telemachus,”
He introduces his son Telemachus.
“To whom I leave the sceptre and the isle,—
Well-loved of me, discerning to fulfil
This labour, by slow prudence to make mild
A rugged people,”
He gives him the throne. Telemachus is patient and wise, capable of ruling calmly.
“and thro’ soft degrees
Subdue them to the useful and the good.”
Telemachus will gradually civilize the people.
“Most blameless is he, centred in the sphere
Of common duties, decent not to fail
In offices of tenderness,”
He is responsible and kind.
“and pay
Meet adoration to my household gods,”
He respects tradition and religion.
“When I am gone. He works his work, I mine.”
Telemachus will manage the kingdom; Ulysses will continue seeking adventure. Their roles are different.
Stanza 3
“There lies the port; the vessel puffs her sail:”
The ship is ready at the harbor.
“There gloom the dark, broad seas.”
The wide sea awaits him.
“My mariners,
Souls that have toil’d, and wrought, and thought with me—”
He speaks to his old sailors who have shared his struggles.
“That ever with a frolic welcome took
The thunder and the sunshine,”
They accepted both danger and joy bravely.
“and opposed
Free hearts, free foreheads—”
They faced challenges fearlessly.
“you and I are old;
Old age hath yet his honour and his toil;”
Though they are old, there is dignity and purpose in old age.
“Death closes all: but something ere the end,
Some work of noble note, may yet be done,”
Before death comes, they can still achieve something great.
“Not unbecoming men that strove with Gods.”
They once fought in heroic battles (like gods in greatness).
“The lights begin to twinkle from the rocks:”
Evening is falling.
“The long day wanes: the slow moon climbs:”
Time is passing.
“the deep
Moans round with many voices.”
The sea makes powerful sounds.
“Come, my friends,
’Tis not too late to seek a newer world.”
It is not too late to explore again.
“Push off, and sitting well in order smite
The sounding furrows;”
Row strongly through the waves.
“for my purpose holds
To sail beyond the sunset, and the baths
Of all the western stars, until I die.”
He plans to sail westward—symbolically beyond the limits of life and knowledge.
“It may be that the gulfs will wash us down:”
They might die at sea.
“It may be we shall touch the Happy Isles,”
Or they may reach a paradise (the afterlife).
“And see the great Achilles, whom we knew.”
They may meet the hero Achilles again.
“Tho’ much is taken, much abides; and though
We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven,”
They are weaker than before.
“that which we are, we are;
One equal temper of heroic hearts,”
But their courage remains the same.
“Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.”
Though old and weaker, their determination is strong. The final line expresses the central message: never give up striving for greatness.
🌟 Main Theme
Desire for knowledge and adventure
Refusal to accept a dull life
Heroism even in old age
The human spirit’s determination
Desire for knowledge and adventure
Refusal to accept a dull life
Heroism even in old age
The human spirit’s determination
🎯 Major Themes
Quest for Knowledge
Restlessness and Adventure
Heroism
Conflict between Youth and Old Age
Victorian Optimism
✨ Literary Features
Dramatic Monologue
Blank Verse (Unrhymed Iambic Pentameter)
Classical Allusion (Homer’s Odyssey)
Symbolism (Journey = Life)
📝 MCQs (Exam-Oriented)
1. Ulysses is a:
A. Sonnet
B. Ode
C. Dramatic Monologue
D. Ballad
Answer: C
2. The poem was published in:
A. 1819
B. 1842
C. 1850
D. 1860
Answer: B
3. Telemachus represents:
A. Adventure
B. Imagination
C. Practical duty
D. Rebellion
Answer: C
4. The poem is written in:
A. Free Verse
B. Heroic Couplet
C. Blank Verse
D. Terza Rima
Answer: C
5. “To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield” expresses:
A. Fear
B. Hope and determination
C. Anger
D. Sadness
Answer: B
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