An Explication of Lord Alfred Tennyson's "Ulysses"

 “Ulysses”

According to The Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms, a dramatic monologue is “a kind of poem in which a single fictional or historical character other than the poet speaks to a silent ‘audience’.” Lord Alfred Tennyson’s “Ulysses” is a well-known example of this form; it is in blank verse –meaning it is in unrhymed iambic pentameter – and is broken into four stanzas. It is about the Greek hero in Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey. It begins after Ulysses has returned from his adventures and he finds himself living the life of an ‘idle king’. He is reminiscing about his former glory days of adventure and camaraderie with his brothers in arms. He then leaves his kingdom to his sons and calls to his old comrades to ‘push off and seek a ‘newer world’. The poem speaks of prevailing over fate and making your own path; Ulysses resists the inevitable aging and death of an old king by gathering his buddies and heading out on a final adventure. Since “Ulysses” was written shortly after the death of his close friend, Arthur Hallam, I feel that Tennyson is also writing about facing and overcoming profound loss.

In the first stanza, which is only five lines, Ulysses laments his current life as king. “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” (3-5) These lines suggest that he feels ineffective and almost useless as a king; his laws go unheeded by the ‘savage race’ and the fact that they do not know him implies his title is unimportant to the hoarders. To me this suggests that Tennyson was trying to find his identity in the face of his friend’s untimely death; he felt helpless and lost.

In the next stanza Ulysses fondly recalls his glory days at sea traveling from battle to battle with his peers:

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 with battle of my peers,
Far on the ringing plains of windy Troy.
I am a part of all that I have met; (13-18)

Unlike the feeling in the first stanza, in this stanza Ulysses exhibits a sense of purpose; he is a well-traveled and highly respected warrior. Rather than being unknown, as he is in his kingdom, he is honour’d and a part of everything. This stanza, because it dwells so much on past times and camaraderie, makes me think that Tennyson is remembering the good times he had with his friend; the line “I am a part of all that I have met” speaks to the profound effect that his friendship with Hallam had on him.

          In the third stanza, which is also short, Ulysses bequeaths the kingdom to his son, Telemachus. He charges him with the task of subduing the ‘rugged people’ and seems to feel confident that his son is up to the task; he says, “Most blameless is he, centred in the sphere/Of common duties, decent not to fail” (39-40). These lines imply that there is a certain kind of man who is suited to fighting and another suited to the mundane life of politics, his son just happens to be better equipped to stay and tame the wild kingdom. There is more evidence of this thought in the last line of this stanza, “He works his work, I mine.” I think that this stanza reflects Tennyson’s decision to move on; he resists staying in his saddened state, but recognizes the importance of grieving. 

The last stanza is the most hopeful; he returns to the sea and the life of adventure and even though he is older and weaker than he was when he first set out, he is determined to go out in a blaze of glory.

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. (66-70)

Literally speaking, these lines deal with life and the effects of aging; Ulysses and his fellow warriors have gotten older over the years, but time cannot take away what they are at heart – men born for travel and adventure. Figuratively speaking, it is Tennyson reconciling with the loss of Arthur Hallam; the line ‘that which we are, we are’ suggests that he has accepted his friend’s death. But the following two lines seem to say that even though their bond has been made weak by fate (Hallam’s death), they are of ‘one equal temper’ and that their bond ‘will not yield’. Tennyson addresses, mourns and reconciles the deep pain he experienced with the loss of a dear friend in his dramatic monologue, “Ulysses”; it is a beautiful poem about struggle and promise.