Ulysses : Summary and Analysis
Tennyson wrote “Ulysses” in 1833, shortly after the death of his close friend Arthur Hallam. The poem is inspired by the classical character Ulysses (Greek: Odysseus) from Homer’s Odyssey. Unlike Homer’s Ulysses who returns home and resumes family life, Tennyson presents him as restless and dissatisfied, yearning for more adventures even in old age. Stanza 1: Text Lines: 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. 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 Vex'd 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, governme...