Ulysses' analysis (from line 1 to 18)

In the first sequence (from line 1 to 5) Ulysses, now old, shows his dislike of Ithaca. He doesn't seem to be glad to be at home: his land is covered by "barren crags", his wife is "aged", laws are "unequal" and his population is a "savage race": they only sleep and feed like animals. Here there is a recurring sound of long vowels (these, mete, race, sleep, feed), which mark a static scene, where nothing can be modified. In the fifth line the polysyndeton highlights the list of actions that people carry on doing without changing. They are perceived by Ulysses as a burden.

The sequence change: Ulysses has understood that he cannot rest from traveling and so he suddenly decides (I "will") to savor every moment of his life, as he had done up to now. The repetition of "I" marks Ulysses' free- will.
Now the character goes back to the past and especially to his voyage. During his life he has suffered very much (highlighted by the repetition of "greatly"), but his pains rendered him famous (I am become a name);
His hunger for knowledge let him see and know many cities, costumes , societies, climates, councils and especially himself ( because you learn a lot about yourself in hard situations and in relation with different people), far from "ringing plains of windy Troy" (plains are "ringing" because of the noise of weapons).

In these lines Tennyson used a lot of run-on-lines in order to accelerate the rhythm of the narration. In addition some words are linked to the semantic field of sea (shore, drifts, sea) to remind the reader Ulysses' adventurous voyage. Finally the use of the word "drink" (line 6 and 18) make the reader understand that he misses the past, because what he lived had a great value for him.