Learning Paths » 5A Interacting
1) Read the poem through and say:
- who is speaking and to whom
- how old he is
- where he is
- what he is setting out on
In the poem Ulysses by Tennyson the speaking is voice is an old Ulysses who speaks to himself as if nobody is listening to him. He is in Ithaca setting out on humanity. He is king of a "savage race, that hoard, and sleep, and feed".
2) Now read the text again, this time paying attention to the developement of the argument.
Summarize what Ulysses says and feels following the guidelines on the left. For each point consider also Tennyson's vocabulary indicating which words and phrases, in particular, reveal in the hero's traites and attitudes. The first point has been written for you.
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Life on Ithaca (lines 2-5) | It is uncivilised and... Negative adjectives such as idol, aged convey Ulysses' s total dissatisfaction with life on Ithaca |
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His past life (lines 6-19) | He has become a name, he has travelled a lot, he has lived greatly, he has suffered greatly: these are tow aspects of human life. We find words such as enjoy' d greatly, suffer' d greatly, hungry heart |
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View of present and future (19-32) | Ulysses thinks that you shouldn't stop. You should go on travelling so to have new experiences. In the lines we find words like experience, how dull is it to pose, as tho' to breath were life. |
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Attitude to Telemacus (33-44) | He gives the sceptre to Telemachus which will have to make mild his people. He says that his son is to blame. In the lines we find words such as make mild a rugged people, most blameless is he, common duties |
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Address to his mariners (45-70) | He talks to his mariners with whom he has made so many journeys. They were ready to sail even if they had to pain. The words are: toil'd, wrought, thought with me, free hearts, free foreheads, old, my friends, heroic hearts |
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3a) How is Ulysses portrayed in the poem?
To answer the question, consider:
- His present situation
- The contrast with Telemacus
- What he can be taken to be symbolic of
- Whether he differs from the picture we usually associate with the hero of the Odyssey
In the poem Ulysses is old, he has made many travels with his mariners, he isn't happy of his present situation. Differing from the hero of the Odyssey he doesn't want to live in Ithaca were he reigns "wild" people, he wants to travel in order to suffer and live greatly. At the contrary his "own Telemachus", is "centred in the sphere of common duties". Ulysses is a metaphor of a way of consider life. He is in search of a sense in life.
3b) What is the poet's attitude to Ulysses and Telemacus? With whom does it side?
The poet sides with Ulysses, as a matter of fact in line 39 referring to Telemachus he says "most blameless is he". Ulysses' s son is like a king of the Victorian Age.
4) The poem was composed when Tennyson was still suffering for the death of his dearest friend, A. Hallam, in 1883. Does the poem reflect a sense of loss?
Yes it does, as a matter of fact Ulysses feels as if he has no house. He is in lack of something that he hopes he is going to find travelling
5) As you will have realised the hero's feelings are communicated through a careful choice of words.
What observations can you make about the meter and the music of the poem and the relationship with its meaning?
In this poem we find blank verse: iambic pentameters without rime. Going further we see that in poem there are many commas...this slows down the rhythm.