Ulysses a few Years Later

Many of us have studied in our dreaded English classes the classic tale of Odysseus, or Ulysses. Ulysses is the Latin name of Odysseus, and it is this Latin form that Lord Tennyson uses in his poem Ulysses. However, when this poem was written, England was losing hope. At that time the country of England was already older than Rome, so they were basically sitting there waiting for their time to come, well, until this poem made an appearance. After this poem surfaced, it brought upon a new light to England and gave them hope again. Yet, how did this poem do such a thing? Well, this poem is about Ulysses many years later after he returned from his epic journey as mentioned, “This dramatic monologue imagines Ulysses as an old man, years after he had returned home from the Trojan War. He desires to restore his youthful vitality and heroic temperament.” (Markert, Lawrence Wayne). He is expressing how he feels about his life and how he feels about his age. He even talks about his son and wife in certain fractions of the poem. First, he calls his wife old, and -he talks about handing his kingdom off to his son. However there are many of his personal views on life that are revealed in this poem that really opened England’s eyes. Ulysses from Lord Tennyson’s poem Ulysses, three main things are revealed: his purpose, his feelings about aging, and his attitude towards life.
To start, Ulysses purpose is brought to the surface towards the end of Lord Tennyson’s Ulysses. He confesses his main purpose in just three lines, “For my purpose holds / to sail beyond the sunset, and the baths / Of all the western stars, until I die.” (Pgs. 972-973, lines 59-61). For clarification, he wants to get in a boat and sail across the ocean because he loved ...

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...ense of guilt or transgression remained important in his more mature works.” (Riede, G, David).The overall poem covers how he really feels about life and that it shouldn’t be taken for granted.

Works Cited

Dirda, Michael.. "'Tennyson: To Strive, To Seek, To Find,' by John Batchelor (Posted 2013-12-26 16:47:58)." Washington Post. 26 Dec. 2013 eLibrary. Web. 07 Apr. 2014.

Kellman, G, Steven.. "Second Wind." Southwest Review 3(2008):412. eLibrary. Web. 07 Apr. 2014.

Manley, Will. "The Manley Arts." Booklist. 01 Mar. 2004: 1114. eLibrary. Web. 07 Apr. 2014.

Markert, Lawrence Wayne. "Biography rescues poet from legend." Roanoke Times & World News. 12 Jan. 2014: 6. eLibrary. Web. 07 Apr. 2014.

Riede, G, David.. "Tennyson's poetics of melancholy and the imperial imagination." Studies in English Literature, 1500 - 1900 4(2000):659. eLibrary. Web. 07 Apr. 2014.