The title “Ulysses” recalls to the reader’s mind the character belonging to classical mythology: king of Ithaca and Telemachus's father. Ulysses is a figure particularly famous for his intelligence and curiosity.
The poem is a dramatic monologue. It implies a silent audience, whose presence is hinted by the speaking voice.
The poem focuses on Ulysses’ thoughts and desires after his return to Ithaca.
The monologue is organized into five stanzas.
The first stanza is a step in the Ulysses’ line of reasoning, whose core is his life and experience. Ulysses’ reflection starts from his role as a king. After coming back to Ithaca, he had to resume his position and duties as a king. The first two lines are pronounced by third person speaking voice; on the other hand, at line 3 the speaking voice shifts to a third person. The purpose of such a choice may be to underline the fact that Ulysses doesn’t think he is suitable for the kingdom anymore. The reason behind the crack in Ulysses’ identity may be his long journey in the Mediterrean sea: the speaking voice explains better his problem in the second stanza.
The second stanza can be divided into two sequences.
In the first one Ulysses reflects on the years he spent travelling. Lines 6 and 7 anticipate the conclusion of the first sequence, which is that Ulysses became one with the experience of travelling the world. After travelling for many years, Ulysses isn’t the same anymore: his identity is now broken into pieces, this being the reason he cannot be a king anymore.
In the second sequence, Ulysses displays his desire to continue his journey. The entire sequence is based on the contrasting connotations of the idea of travelling and that of staying in Ithaca.
In third stanza is Ulysses desire to travel again leads him to think about who will take his place and throne. The use of “my son” and “mine own” is a repetition whose function is to convince the audience that Telemachus will be a good king because he is Ulysses’ son. Telemachus is connoted in a positive way through lexical choices and the repetition of the sound “s”. Such choices convey the idea of a balanced. Telemachus seems to be his father’s opposite: the young man is balanced, right and ready to sit on the throne, while Ulysses seems to be in the middle of a storm.
In fourth stanza is opened by a stormy setting. This stanza is the last step of Ulysses’ reasoning.
Ulysses draws the audience’s attention on the lack of time by describing the setting: the fading light, the rising moon and night are pictured in the reader’s mind with short. They create tension and settle the ground for Ulysses’ call to his companions.
In the last stanza, Ulysses motivates his companions by saying that, despite their age, they have the necessary strength to travel. The purpose of such choices may be to create sentences that easily stick into the mariners’ minds.
Tennyson focuses his attention on the old Ulysses, the one that came back to Ithaca after his long journey in the Mediterrean Sea.