Tennyson's "Ulysses" 1833

The object of the present text is to provide my personal analysis of Ulysses by Tennyson.

It is not meant to give a definite and unquestionable analysis but I am going to make some possible conjectures about it supported by textual references.

To start with, Ulysses is a poem written in 1833 by Tennyson and it may be considered a dramatic monologue.

Considering the title it reminds to the reader the Greek hero of the Trojan War described by Homer, firstly in the Iliad and then in the Odyssey. Ulysses was an hero from Ithaca, famous for his travel and to have fight during the Trojan war. 

In addition it reminds also to Dante’s Ulisse, of the “Inferno” of the “Divina Commedia”. Ulisse was condemned, among the false counsellors, to have deceived other people and to have transgressed the Divine order.

Therefore the reader may expect the poem to be about a revisitation of the two past masterworks, in which Ulysses may be the protagonist and may act in order to be considered an hero. In addition Tennyson’s poem may be a revisitation of the Odyssey according to the new society’s ideals and attitudes.

Moving now to the analysis of the poem, it is important to consider its structure: it is divided into two main parts  which could be divide in four sequences at all.

The first part goes from the start to “ Beyond the utmost bound of human thought” and the second one from “This is my son, mine own Telemachus.” to the end. 

The first one may be divide into two sequences: the first one, from the start to the line 5, is about Ulysses sad life in Ithaca, indeed Ulysses is a king who have to mete and dole unequal laws to a savage crowd who don’t know him, while the second one, from line 6 to line 32, is about is nostalgic past and his future hopes where travel as a condition to live life at most comes to life.

Also the second part is divided into two sequences: in the first one Telemachus, Ulysses’ son, is introduced as the next king and, in addition, the different attitude and life style  between the father and his son come to life, while in the last sequences Ulysses speaks to his mariners praising them. 

Starting from the first sequence it underlines Ulysses sadness to be at home, in Ithaca with his wife and to be the king because he has to spread unequal laws to a savage people who don’t know him. Moving to the second sequence the reader understands Ulysses is sad to be at home because he need to travel in order to feel himself alive. He states to have discovered himself through his travels because he has met new people, he has faced a lot of difficult situations, he has suffered and enjoyed during them, he has known new things and he has lived the enjoyment of the battle with his peers. In addition he finds boring not to travel and not discover new places and even if he is going to die he wants to live his life to the fullest, taking advantage of the time left. 

In the third sequence it is introduced Telemachus, Ulysses’ son, the one to whom he leaves the throne e the island’s control. Also their attitude and life style come to life: Ulysses lives his life searching for new skills, knowledges and new places to discover while Telemachus is the common leader who lives for other people, respectful of his duties and considerate in his job. 

Last but not least in the fourth sequence he moves, with his imagination, from his house to the port where his boat is ready to sail. Here he takes into consideration his mariners and he thinks they are great worker and travel’s companions. In the last poem’s part Ulysses invites his mariners to start the last travel to find a new world, but it is a travel different from the others, it may be a travel to death. 

Considering now to the narrative strategies, there is a first person speaker, different from the poet, who tells his history, his thoughts, his reflections and his feats. He speaks to an unknown and silent listener who can not intervenes in the narration. Therefore it is clear that it is a dramatic monologue. Indeed what is said in the poem reflects what comes to the protagonist’s mind.

The narrator does not intervenes explicitly in the poem but the intelligent reader may understand his point of view through the lines. 

It is used the iambic pentameter but there no rhymes at lines’ end.

For what concern the semantic level, in the first sequence there are used words such as “idle”, “still”, “barren”, which remind to the sense of lack, malancholy and emptiness because Ulysses is now at home but I misses traveling. At line 6, in the expression “drink life to the lees”, the narrator used the verb drink life to mean live life and he always associated the verb drink to verb live to underline that his life gives him satisfaction as to drunk when you are thirsty, the repetition of the word “greatly both juxtaposed to enjoyed and to suffered means that Ulysses had great times but also pains during his travels.

The poet may uses the words “eternal silence” to refer to death and to underline the death is going to arrive for Ulysses, who would not spend his last times in Ithaca. When Tennyson speaks about Telemachus’ attitude he repeats two times “work” in the expression “ He works his work” to underline Telemachus respect of his duties. 

Some lines after that, seas are described as “dark and broad” because they probably conduced people to death and the expression “for my purpose holds to sail beyond the sunset” means that Ulysses wants to travel to death with his mariners, with whom he has always shared joys and suffering. Also “western star” are used to refers to where the sun sets and therefore where people die. 

Considering the syntatic level, it does not always respect the English rules but the reason why may be because it is an interior monologue and therefore it reflects Ulysses thoughts in the same way they come to his mind. An example is the expression “ Most blameless is he..”. 

For what concern the rhetorical level, the poem is full of speech’s figures such as metaphors, similes, alliterations, and onomatopoeia and they all contribute to create a real dramatic monologue which creates a melancholic atmosphere.

The onomatopoeia is the word “puffs” in the expression “there lies the port; the vessel puffs her sail” because it reminds to the wind the inflates poisons. 

The metaphors are “all experience is an arch” according to which life is compared to an arch, “the long day wanes” because it refers to the end of life, “it is not too late to seek a newer world” where the new world it is a image for what there is after death or where Ulysses and his mariners may arrive after their last travel and “beyond the sunset” sunset is the metaphor for “death”.

Moving now to the simile, the most important one is “ to follow knowledge like a sinking star” because it may means it is difficult to understand everything.

Last but non least in the text there are a lot of alliteration which helps to create a sort of melancholic melody which accompanies Ulysses’ history. There are the alliteration of the letter “l”, of the letter “m”, of the letter “h” and “o” which gives the sensation of a cry and sigh, the alliteration of “t”.

The overall effect is the creation of a dramatic monologue which reflects Ulysses’ thoughts creating a sense of lack and sadness in the reader.

The reader may identify with the protagonist and to feel involved in the adventures.

The ideal reader is one able to read between the lines because it is a difficult poem full of hidden meanings and, in addition, he could be able to discover the figures of speech for a better poem’s comprehension. 

All things considered, Tennyson proposed a revisitation of Ulysses in which everyone could identify him/herself. He was able to create a realistic situation through to the use of language, figures of speech and narrative techniques.