Ulysses by Alfred Tennyson
1
It little profits that an idle king,
By this still hearth, among these barren crags,
Match’d with an aged wife, I mete and dole
Unequal laws unto a savage race,
That hoard, and sleep, and feed, and know not me.
Explanation
Ulysses (the Greek hero Odysseus) complains that being an inactive king in Ithaca is pointless. He’s stuck by a quiet fireplace (“still hearth”) in a barren land, married to his old wife (Penelope). His people are “savage” – they only care about hoarding resources, sleeping, and eating. They don’t understand him or his adventures
2
I cannot rest from travel: I will drink
Life to the lees: All times I have enjoy’d
Greatly, have suffer’d greatly, both with those
That loved me, and alone, on shore, and when
Thro’ scudding drifts the rainy Hyades
Vext the dim sea: I am become a name;
For always roaming with a hungry heart
Much have I seen and known; cities of men
And manners, climates, councils, governments,
Myself not least, but honour’d of them all;
And drunk delight of battle with my peers,
Far on the ringing plains of windy Troy.
I am a part of all that I have met;
Yet all experience is an arch wherethro’
Gleams that untravell’d world, whose margin fades
For ever and forever when I move.
Explanation
Ulysses declares he must keep traveling. He wants to live intensely (“drink life to the lees”), recalling both joys and sufferings from his past voyages. He’s become famous (“a name”) for his relentless exploration (“roaming with a hungry heart”). He’s seen diverse cultures, battles, and the Trojan War. Every experience makes him crave more – the unknown world always seems just out of reach
3
How dull it is to pause, to make an end,
To rust unburnish’d, not to shine in use!
As tho’ to breathe were life! Life piled on life
Were all too little, and of one to me
Little remains: but every hour is saved
From that eternal silence, something more,
A bringer of new things; and vile it were
For some three suns to store and hoard myself,
And this gray spirit yearning in desire
To follow knowledge like a sinking star,
Beyond the utmost bound of human thought.
Explanation
Pausing life is “dull” and “rusts” his spirit. Breathing isn’t living – even multiple lifetimes wouldn’t satisfy him. With little time left, he refuses to waste his remaining years (“three suns”). His aging soul (“gray spirit”) yearns to chase knowledge endlessly, like following a star that sinks beyond human limits.
4
This is my son, mine own Telemachus,
To whom I leave the sceptre and the isle,—
Well-loved of me, discerning to fulfil
This labour, by slow prudence to make mild
A rugged people, and thro’ soft degrees
Subdue them to the useful and the good.
Most blameless is he, centred in the sphere
Of common duties, decent not to fail
In offices of tenderness, and pay
Meet adoration to my household gods,
When I am gone. He works his work, I mine.
Explanation
Ulysses introduces his son Telemachus, who’ll inherit the throne. He praises Telemachus’ patience and ability to civilize Ithaca’s “rugged people” gently. But Ulysses dismisses these duties as “his work,” while adventure is “mine.” The tone is detached, showing Ulysses’ lack of bond with home or family.
5
There lies the port; the vessel puffs her sail:
There gloom the dark, broad seas. My mariners,
Souls that have toil’d, and wrought, and thought with me—
That ever with a frolic welcome took
The thunder and the sunshine, and opposed
Free hearts, free foreheads—you and I are old;
Old age hath yet his honour and his toil;
Death closes all: but something ere the end,
Some work of noble note, may yet be done,
Not unbecoming men that strove with Gods.
The lights begin to twinkle from the rocks:
The long day wanes: the slow moon climbs: the deep
Moans round with many voices. Come, my friends,
Explanation
Ulysses spots his ship and calls his loyal sailors. Though old, they once faced storms (“thunder”) and calm (“sunshine”) bravely. He urges: before death, they must do “some work of noble note.” Nature echoes his call – twinking stars, the fading day, and the moaning sea all signal departure.
6
‘T is not too late to seek a newer world.
Push off, and sitting well in order smite
The sounding furrows; for my purpose holds
To sail beyond the sunset, and the baths
Of all the western stars, until I die.
It may be that the gulfs will wash us down:
It may be we shall touch the Happy Isles,
And see the great Achilles, whom we knew.
Tho’ much is taken, much abides; and tho’
We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are;
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.
Explanation
Ulysses exclaims: “Push off!” They’ll sail beyond the sunset, maybe to their doom (“gulfs wash us down”) or paradise (“Happy Isles”) to meet dead heroes like Achilles. Though aged and weakened, their will remains “heroic.” The iconic closing lines affirm their resolve: “To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield”
Difficult Words & Meanings
Idle: Useless, inactive
Mete and dole: Measure and distribute (here, laws)
Savage: Uncivilized, rough
Lees: Dregs at the bottom of wine (to “drink to the lees” means to live fully)
Hyades: Star cluster believed to bring rain in Greek myth
Vext: Archaic for “disturbed” or “troubled”
Wherethro’: Through which
Unburnish’d: Unpolished, tarnished
Vile: Shameful, disgusting
Yearning: Deep longing
Sceptre: Royal staff symbolizing power
Prudence: Cautious wisdom
Meet: Fitting, proper (as in “meet adoration”)
Frolic: Playful, energetic
Unbecoming: Unsuitable, beneath their dignity
Furrows: Grooves (here, waves)
Abides: Remains, endures
Temper: Spirit, character
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