Alfred Tennyson was a great and accomplished poet during the Victorian Age, holding Britain's prestigious position of Poet Laureate. He was a man of many great works with no lack in diversity, writing poems in the lyric, narrative and the dramatic. One of his best dramatic monologues is his poem "Ulysses". Ulysses (Roman for Odysseus of Homer's epic) tells the story of the aged War Hero turned King addressing his crew and people, before embarking on a new voyage.
In the first stanza of the poem, Ulysses sadly reminisces of the older days, realizing that his present occupation has left him "to rust unburnish"d". He has grown bored with his respected position, and he sees everything that should be beautiful in his life, his wife, his home, and his lifestyle, with a tired plainness. Ulysses feels he lives without truly living.
He finds no rest because he has not journeyed from anywhere to be rightfully weary, and the only things that give him any peace are the memories of his past. Ulysses remembers the joys of drunken battle with his friends on the plains of Troy. He remembers sailing the seas. He remembers all that he "enjoyed greatly," and "suffered greatly." He knows now in his old age, that little of life remains, but he intends to make every moment of it count, "I cannot rest from travel; I will drinks life to the lees". Ulysses desires to begin a new journey, a journey for the knowledge of things that he has not before seen, heard, nor dreamed. .
The second stanza is Ulysses" last testimony to his people and to his son, Telemachus. Before Ulysses goes on his journey, he leaves the responsibility of ruling the people to his son. He asks Telemachus to patiently push his people to progress into something greater and more useful than the "rugged" people that they are. .
The last stanza of the poem is Ulysses trying to strengthen his crew's spirit. Ulysses concedes that they all are growing old, but he says that there is still honor and work to be done in old age.
In the book Idylls of the King by Alfred, Lord Tennyson there are many things throughout the different stories that show mist imagery. ... Works Cited Tennyson, Alfred Lord. ... London: Penguin Books, 1996. 21-35 Tennyson, Alfred Lord. ... London: Penguin Books, 1996. 142-167 Tennyson, Alfred Lord. ... London: Penguin Books, 1996. 269-287 Tennyson, Alfred Lord. ...
Alfred Lord Tennyson frequently referred to historical events and the past. ... Tennyson claimed that Camelot began a war against itself, ultimately destroying itself from within. ... Tennyson created his own version of the Order of the Round Table by drawing from an extremely large number of general materials. ... Tennyson's poem differs from Dante and Homer's works. ... In short, Alfred Lord Tennyson frequently referred to historical events and the past. ...
Alfred, Lord Tennyson's "Ulysses," expresses a powerful message about life and time. ... Because the poem was written shortly after Tennyson's close friend, Arthur Henry Hallam, died some may see a connection between Ulysses and Tennyson. ... This idea is supported by Tennyson's comment, from Hallam Tennyson's Alfred, Lord Tennyson: A Memoir, that "Ulysses" revealed his "feeling about the need of going forward, and braving the struggle of life" after Hallam passed away. ... As said before Ulysses is a representation of Tennyson's emotion ...
The Cycle A reflection on Tennyson's In Memoriam Throughout the majority of Alfred Lord Tennyson's poem In Memoriam, he is clearly struggling with the idea death. ... Tennyson's words show the reader that his suffering is almost unbearable, and it seems that parts indicate that Tennyson is flirting with the idea of entering the "door" and ending his life. ... Before his death, Tennyson was blind in a way. ... Tennyson can see God in everything in nature that is on this earth. ... Through out the poem Tennyson compares himself and his experiences to a baby. ...
Alfred Lord Tennyson was one of the most representative poets of the Victorian era in England at the time. ... I have chosen to discuss the poem called "Ulysses- by the poet Alfred Lord Tennyson where I will be discussing the ways in which the poem "Ulysses- addresses preoccupations of the Victorian period. Through my analysis of the poem, I hope to acquire a well grounded and thorough understanding of the poem in-turn being able to understand how the Victorian period dominated and engrossed the mind of Alfred Lord Tennyson in such a way that he was inspired to write such original verse. ...
Alfred, Lord Tennyson "If one takes the point of view that the job of a poet is to sing, then Tennyson is unrivaled. ... "On October 6, 1892, Alfred, Lord Tennyson died, mourned by the whole nation in a way that no other English writer had ever been. ... Alfred, Lord Tennyson wrote his masterpiece, "In Memoriam," in honor of the death of his closest friend, Arthur Henry Hallam. ... Many critics consider "Ulysses" to be Tennyson's most significant short poem, because, from this time on, his fame was assured, and throughout his life he continued to be the most popular poet of Victorian...
Alfred Lord Tennyson was born August 6, 1809, in Somersby, Lincolnshire, England.2 He was the fourth of twelve children and was a bright and talented boy; his works with poetry were astonishing and were very noticeable even at an early age. ... In 1828, Tennyson enrolled at Trinity College, Cambridge. ... In June 1850, after an engagement of thirteen years, Tennyson and Emily were married. ... And there is a peaceful transition from daylight to night, which is the sunset, depicting Tennyson's peaceful transition from life to death. ... Tennyson wants people that read his poem not to be sa...
Alfred, Lord Tennyson was painfully aware of the implications of such a universe, and he struggled with his own doubts about the existence of God. ... If we have, in fact, developed to our present state from a lower form, then who is to say that development has ceased? ... The fact that we love, as Tennyson mentioned before, separates us from animals. ... In poem sixty-four, Tennyson speaks of Hallam, describing him with the words: "And moving up from high to higher, Becomes on Fortune's crowning slope The pillar of a people's hope, The center of a wor...
