It little profits that an idle king, (1)
By this still hearth, among these barren crags, (2)
Match'd with an aged wife, I mete and dole
Unequal laws unto a savage race,
That hoard, and sleep, and feed, and know not me. (5)
I cannot rest from travel: I will drink (6)
Life to the lees: all times I have enjoyed
Greatly, have suffered greatly, both with those
That loved me, and alone; on shore, and when
Through scudding drifts the rainy Hyades
Vexed the dim sea: I am become a name;
For always roaming with a hungry heart (12)
Much have I seen and known – cities of men
And manners, climates, councils, governments,

Myself not least, but honoured of them all – (15)
And drunk delight of battle with my peers,
Far on the ringing plains of windy Troy, (17)

Lines 2-5: Ulysses is unhappy of his real life (still hearth, barren crags, aged wife, savage race).

Line 5: Ulysses refers to his subjects as a “savage race” that only eat and sleep as ”feed”, and they “hoard too, as if they are getting ready to hibernate. Ulysses himself is hungry, but he’s hungry of knowledge.

Line 6: Ulysses explains that he can’t stop travelling because he wants to continue to live.

Lines 12-15: Ulysses tells us that ha has visited a lot of different places (cities of men, and manners, climates councils, governments); in addition he portrays himself as an animal (leon) through the metaphor “roaming with a hungry heart”.

Lines 16-17: Ulysses describes how he enjoyed fighting on the “plains” (Greek mythology) the metaphor of drinking: like drinking gives a sort of satisfaction, so for him to fight is to enjoy (metaphor).