Learning Paths » 5A Interacting
ACTIVITY 1
Read the poem through and say:
- Who is speaking and to whom? Ulysses is speaking. In the first part there is no explicit addressee. As a matter of fact he speaks about everybody in third person (about his wife, his son, people in Ithaca etc.). Maybe Ulysses is just reflecting, or telling his "will" before going away (and he also explain the reason why he has to go). In the secon part he speaks to his sailors (line 44: Come, my friends...)
- How old he is? He is very old, and also his sailors and his wife are, but there is no explicit reference. But he speaks about death and about the little time he still has.
- Where he is? He is on Ithaca, but he is going to move.
- What he is setting out on? He is leaving, but he has no destination: the only place he mentions is the Happy Isles. His aim is not to reach an island or a town, but to know something more about other places, other population and human beings and about himself through new experiences.
ACTIVITY 2
Now read the text again, this time paying attention to the development of the argument.
Summarize what Ulysses says and feels following the guidelines on the left.
For each point consider also Tennyson vocabulary indicating which words and phrases, in particular, reveal the hero's traits and attitudes.
The first point has been written for you.
Life on Ithaca (lines1-5) | It is uncivilized and bleak and lacks excitement. Negative adjective such as idle, still, barren, aged, unequal, savage convey Ulysses total dissatisfaction with life on Ithaca. |
His past life (lines 6-18) | He considers it real life, because his past experiences made him enjoy greatly and suffer greatly, know much about cities, men, climates, councils, governments and himself. It has been very important for him because now he is a part of all that he has met. |
View of the present and the future (lines 19-32) | PRESENT: He doesn't consider it real life (how dull is it to pause [...] to rust unburnish'd) because he is not travelling (it has of course a metaphorical meaning - travel is often considered a symbol for life, experience, knowledge etc.). FUTURE: He knows that he is no more young, but he doesn't want to spent his time in a vile way. So he chooses to save every hour following knowledge like a sinking star. |
Attitude to Telemachus (lines 33-44) | He (Telemachus) works his work, I (Ulysses) mine. Ulysses's son is a typical good king: he likes his island, he know how to make mild and subdue his rugged people, he adores the Gods and knows his duties. He is totally different from his father. That's way Telemachus stays on Ithaca and Ulysses goes away. |
Address to his mariners (lines 45-70) | He demonstrate to his sailors hat, even if they are very old, it is not too late. They can still do something before the end. They haven't the strength which in old days moved earth and heaven, (which we are, we are), but they can still sail beyond the sunset. Time and fate are their weakness, but their will to strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield is their strength. |
Activity 3
a. How is Ulysses portrayed in the poem?
To answer the questions, consider:
1. His present situation. He is an old king in a dull pause. He has to reign rugged people through unequal laws. But he is not satisfied of his role and life and so he decides to move.
2. The contrast with Telemachus. They are opposite, that's way Telemachus stays on Ithaca and Ulysses chooses the sea: the former wants to reign (and he knows how to do it) and the latter want to know and live (that's not simply breathe).
3. wheatear he differs from the picture we usually associated with the hero of the Odyssey He is very different from the hero of the Odyssey. The latter is young, and he just wants to see, to have adventures, without reflecting very much on what he is doing, because he is aware of his physical and mental skills. In Tennyson's poem Ulysses is old and he can't bank on most of his abilities. This situation make him reflect and choose consciously. Ulysses chooses the difficult way of really life, of great sufferance and joy, of battles and knowledge, of relationship with other population and of discovery of himself.
b. What is the poet's attitude to Ulysses and Telemachus? With whom does he side? I think his attitude is to Telemachus.
ACTIVITY 4
The poem was composed when Tennyson was still suffering for the death of his dearest friend Arthur Halam in 1833. Does the poem reflect a sense of loss?
I think so, because a loss like this make people think about death and life, their sense and what it is important to spend your time for.
ACTIVITY 5
As you will realized the hero's feelings are communicated trough a careful choice of words.
What observations can you make about the meter and music of the poem and their relationship to his meaning?
When Ulysses describes his past life and his reflections about life the reader can find alliterations of the sound "L" and "M" and there are long vowel sounds, while when he describes his we can find harsh sounds. In the last part, when he speaks to his sailors, he seems to convey strength through alliterations and repletion of the sounds "R", "S", "H".