In the third stanza another character is introduced: Telemachus, Ulysses’s son. Differently from his father, who tends to follow his heart, Telemachus could be identified as the typical Victorian man, who, after Ulysses’s death, must subdue "a rugged people" "to the useful and the good". Indeed, "useful", "good" and "to profit" are typically Victorian words and verbs that perfectly sum up the utilitarian mentality on which the Victorian values were based. While the "blameless" Telemachus is "centred in the sphere of common duties", ready to do what everybody expects from him, Ulysses does not want to follow his "rugged people" ’s expectations and decides to leave Itaca.
The fourth stanza is introduced by the description of the scene Ulysses has in front of right before departure (e.g. : "there lies the port", "there gloom the dark broad seas"). Like Ulysses, the mariners are old ("you and I are old") and they have shared together big joys and big sufferings. Death is near and "closes all", but "some work of noble note" can be done. The contrast between the infinite greatness of Ulysses's soul and his human status at the moment is visible through several contrasts in the text: "I have enjoyed greatly, have suffered greatly", "both with those who loved me and alone", "on shore and when through scudding drifts the rainy Hyades vexed the dim sea", "he works his work, I mine", "the thunder and the sunshine". Obviously, he wants to go beyond what is permitted, to live fully until the end and develop his deep desire of learning. The atmosphere is very different from that of the first stanza. The setting reflects the evening of Ulysses's life: it is a calm evening, with a "slow moon" reflecting by the rocks. The old ruler is uncertain about his future: "it may be that the gulfs will wash us down: it may be we shall touch the Happy Isles". Even so, he is quite and determined to follow "virtute e canoscenza".
In the final passage Ulysses seems to identify with his mariners, thanks to the repetition of the personal pronoun "we".