Ulysses the Quester

            "Ulysses" is a poem about a man who has, over many years, defined himself has a distinct individual in his society in many ways. Ulysses is above the normal run of people. He is a great king, a natural leader, and a born quester and adventurer. In this poem, he tells his story, and lets us, the reader, see just how extraordinary and unique he really was. .
             We are introduced to Ulysses as a king in the very first line. The way the poem starts gives an instant impression of the stature and individuality of the man. He doesn't dwell on the position of king for even a second, instead sweeping straight on to the next line, almost as if it is meaningless in the scheme of his life. .
             When he is talking in the poem, Ulysses is already an old man. He has, since youth, gone on missions of extraordinary bravery, for years at a time. Travel and discovery is all he has known, and all he wants to know. As he recounts in the poem, he has learned and suffered greatly, both with others and alone. He has seen a great deal of things and become a part of it all. Through the many, many years, Ulysses has forged a distinct name for himself, by "always roaming with a hungry heart". .
             Ulysses has defined himself as an individual within his society because of the extraordinary things he has achieved and continues to achieve. For as long as he recalls, Ulysses has traveled, explored, discovered, learnt. He has gone further then any man, and he has returned, to share knowledge, and then go again. Also, unlike others, Ulysses" refused to stop and end it all, to "rust unburnished, not to shine in use!" He constantly yearns to discover and learn more, for as he gets older, he sees the margin fading of that untraveled world, and experiences a new desire to conquer the unknown. It is this desire that earns Ullyses the colossal respect of his people, because if it wasn't for his tremendous courage and toil, they would know nothing outside their world, for, before Ulysses, there had been no one prepared to tackle the barrier beyond the out most bound of human thought.