Analysis of Tennyson's "Ulysses”

The poem “Ulysses” was written in 1833 by Alfred Tennyson. The poem “Ulysses” celebrates man’s obstinate attempt to give purpose to life even if he is approaching death.

The poem is divided into five paragraphs, every one with a specific topic. Looking at the structure of the poem we can see the strange way of the starting of a new line: it conveys with the idea of the monologue the principle character does.

The narrator is in the first person, the speaker doesn’t correspond with the poet, but the speaker is Ulysses. Ulysses is an historical and mythological character who travelled during all of his life and came back home from his voyages when he was old. Tennyson chose Ulysses as the principal character because he wanted to write in a metaphoric way about his dead friend A. Hallam.

The principal character is speaking about his past experiences because he is old, and so he can see the consequences of his past actions. Ulysses is in Ithaca with his wife Penelope, but he doesn’t like his present situation because he prefers traveling: he had been taking so many voyages that he isn’t able to live stabile on an island (as Ithaca is). Moreover there isn’t any relation between Ulysses and his citizens because he had been far away for many years.

In the second paragraph Ulysses is worrying about his life because he is old and doesn’t have much more time. He tries to make sense of his unhappiness: he had been taking so many voyages that he isn’t able to live stabile on an island (Ithaca). Ulysses does some considerations about his past and conveys that he wants to live life as its full and not being stuck on an island. During his considerations there is a metaphor about living life at its full: it is like the moment when you drink, as to underline the moment when you are at the end of your life and the moment when you understand the speed of life.

Ulysses thinks about how his life experiences are essential to be in contact with people and landscapes. The landscapes Ulysses describes, represent the difficult moments of his voyages.

On the conclusion we can see that Ulysses’ thoughts about his experiences reveal that the experiences of people, make the identity of the people itself.