Ulysses - Lord Alfred Tennyson

Lord Alfred Tennyson’s choice of talking about Ulysses is not casual. The use myth creates a sort of timeless that links past and present together. Myth adds significance to the poem he writes since it also evokes human beings’ burning questions which have always torture man.

The reader must remember that Lord Alfred Tennyson was a Victorian poet and so he was influenced by the utilitarian view of life that developed in that period. Such view of life was based on the beliefs according to which everything should give benefits and profits to be considered worth to be done. Right from the start the reader can find out the utilitarian influence.

The first scene is set in Ithaca, Ulysses’ native island. Tennyson’s Ulysses differs from Joyce’s and T.S.Eliot’s one since he is old and tired. He is just come back home. Even though he looked forward to return to the island, he is now annoyed with what he sees. The land has become rocky and sterile, his wife is now old, the laws are unequal and his population is “a savage race”. Above all he is annoyed by his fellows who seem to live like animals. They do the minimum in order to survive: they hoard, and sleep, and feed and they do not know him. The line “and not know me” clarifies Ulysses’ feelings. He doesn’t feel at home, actually he feels misplaced. The whole first scene is made up of long vowels sounds which give a sense of lull.

The second scene  presents Ulysses’ will to leave his island. He is not like his fellows,  he is a dynamic person who is thirsty of knowledge. He does not surrender and decides to keep on travelling. His will of escape is made more clear by the use of run-on lines which create a dynamic rhythm. The repetition of the word “I” adds significance to the poetry: it remarks Ulysses’ free will.  The following lines recall the main character’s past experiences which seem to evoke a sort of nostalgia. Such nostalgia differs from the Mr Joyce’s one. James  Joyce decided to entitle the last chapter of his work: NOSTOS which means RETURN or NOSTALGIA. However this chapter deals with Ulysses’ return to Ithaca. Mr Tennyson’s Ulysses recalls the days of his long voyage. He relives the “cities of men And manners, climates, councils, governments” he got to know. The pain he had to cope with had rendered him famous and honored by all his voyage fellows. On the contrary  the countryman fellows do not even care about his experiences. Ulysses’ sense of isolation with his own population is underlined by the use of the word “peers” at line 16. Such word describes his voyage fellows who seem to be the closest friends Ulysses has.