Ulysses (poem)
Ulysses is poem by Alfred Lord Tennyson, written in 1833 but not published until 1842. It is narrated by an aged Ulysses who has become restless and dissatisfied with his life as king of Ithaca. Ulysses has spent years fighting the Trojans (as described in The Iliad) and trying to return home (which is the subject of The Odyssey), but now that his journey is complete he feels dissatisfied and yearns to get back out into the world.
The figure of Ulysses was not particularly praised in the Victorian era. While he was a hero, Tennyson's Ulysses is prideful. As with the Byronic hero, Ulysses allows his personal pride to endanger lives. He is a poor king ("I mete and dole/Unequal laws unto a savage race") unsuited to life back in Ithaca. He leaves the throne to Telemachus ("He works his work, I mine") and gathers up all of his old sailors to take a final voyage to death.
The most famous part of the poem is the ending:
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
Tennyson is questioning what becomes of the hero after the quest. The man who could outwit the Fates could not grow old. Although many readers have accepted the last lines of the poem as inspirational, it is not clear that Tennyson intended them as such. Ulysses's call to action is suicidal and proud. He intends to die contending, rather than in peace.
