The poem Ulysses was published in 1833 by Lord Alfred Tennyson, some weeks after the death of his friend Arthur Hallam. It is written as a dramatic monologue: the entire poem is spoken by the main character, an old Ulysses who has just returned to Ithaca from his voyage and begun to resume his administrative responsibilities. Tennyson's Ulysses is particular, because he is an old man. It emerges right from the beginning of the poem: Ulysses talks about an "idle king", because of his age. Tennyson describe a man who doesn’t feel at home in his country: he has to govern people which don’t know him, because he has been far from home for a long time. He doesn’t appreciate them; he defines them "a savage race": they are only interested into the lowest life functions, that is to eat, sleep and to have more material goods. They are not able to understand Ulysses and the corruption of society is underlined not only in a "moral" way (people's of Ithaca lightness), but also by laws, that are unequal. Savage is someone who has no culture, in opposition to the protagonist who reached a great wisdom and learning thanks to his journeys of knowledge.

Many of the lines are enjambed, which means that a thought does not end with the line-break; the sentences often end in the middle, rather than the end, of the lines.

In the first line there is also a reference to Victorian idea of economy ("little profits"), based on Utilitarism.  The main character goes on presenting his situation: his land his sterile and stony, his wife is old and unattractive and there is not fire in the fireplace. The image of the fireplace without fire and of the “barren crags”, on the second line, is connected with the unattractiveness of his home, where also the nature seems dying.

Still speaking to himself, Ulysses,  proclaims that he “cannot rest from travel” but he feels compelled to live fully, unlike his people do. The protagonist has “enjoy'd” and “suffer'd”, experiencing both the conditions sustained by Manichaeism and taken up by Victorianism, where ethical and moral aspects were essential. He also lived his adventures “with those that loved me, and alone”, experiencing both the life’s level: the first one is the community and the second one is the individual dimension.  Ulysses says “I am become a name” underlining that his quest was about his existential dimension too.

His desire of learning is expressed through an interesting lexical choice, that is the semantic field of “feeding”: Lord Tennyson uses expressions such “hungry heart” or “drunk delight” to stress the idea of Ulysses’ wishes of knowledge. Ulysses  is a passionate man, who always wants to discover something new. In this lines the duration form of the verb ("roaming") and the adverb "always" underline that his desire of knowledge can’t be appeased and that it will control him for all the rest of his life. Ulysses has not only seen new places and people, but he has really learnt something new and his discoveries have became a part of him. During his voyages he has also discovered something new about himself.

At line 16 Ulysses remembers his great past. He remembers the battle of Troy: it is an image of joy and movement, underlined also by the adjective "windy", that defines Troy.  At line 18 Ulysses says that everything he has lived is part of him: “I am a part of all that I have met,”. He’s an old man but he’s still strong, brave, industrious.

MNardelli