Ulysses

by Alfred, Lord Tennyson · 1842 · 2 min read · 70 lines

In short

“Ulysses” by Alfred, Lord Tennyson is a poem about an aging king who longs to leave settled life for further travel and discovery. Beside a still hearth and barren rocks, Ulysses feels trapped by ruling people who do not understand him. He recalls stormy seas, foreign cities, and battle on the plains of Troy, then imagines experience as an arch opening onto unexplored worlds. He leaves his kingdom to his patient son, Telemachus, whose gifts suit the work of government. Turning to his old sailors, he points toward the waiting ship as evening lights appear and the moon rises. Though the voyage may end in drowning, he urges them onward, trusting their shared courage and will despite their diminished strength.

It little profits that an idle king,By this still hearth, among these barren crags,Match’d with an aged wife, I mete and doleUnequal laws unto a savage race,That hoard, and sleep, and feed, and know not me.I cannot rest from travel: I will drinkLife to the lees: all times I have enjoy’dGreatly, have suffer’d greatly, both with thoseThat loved me, and alone; on shore, and whenThro’ scudding drifts the rainy HyadesVext the dim sea: I am become a name;For always roaming with a hungry heartMuch have I seen and known; cities of menAnd 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 fadesFor ever and for ever when I move.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 lifeWere all too little, and of one to meLittle remains: but every hour is savedFrom that eternal silence, something more,A bringer of new things; and vile it wereFor some three suns to store and hoard myself,And this gray spirit yearning in desireTo follow knowledge, like a sinking star,Beyond the utmost bound of human thought.This is my son, mine own Telemachus,To whom I leave the sceptre and the isle—Well-loved of me, discerning to fulfilThis labour, by slow prudence to make mild

A rugged people, and thro’ soft degreesSubdue them to the useful and the good.Most blameless is he, centred in the sphereOf common duties, decent not to failIn offices of tenderness, and payMeet adoration to my household godsWhen I am gone. He works his work, I mine.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 tookThe thunder and the sunshine, and opposedFree 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 deepMoans round with many voices. Come, my friends,’Tis not too late to seek a newer world.Push off, and sitting well in order smite

The sounding furrows; for my purpose holdsTo sail beyond the sunset, and the bathsOf 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 daysMoved earth and heaven; that which we are, we are;One equal temper of heroic hearts,Made weak by time and fate, but strong in willTo strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.

What it means, line by line

Lines 1 to 17: Ulysses describes home and kingship as confining, contrasting a motionless hearth with memories of travel, storms, and battle. His harsh description of his subjects reveals his distance from them. Repeated references to great pleasure and suffering show that he values intense experience more than comfort or routine.

Lines 18 to 32: Past experience has shaped Ulysses, but it also points toward everything he has not yet explored. The arch suggests an opening rather than a finished achievement. Images of rust and unused metal make inactivity seem wasteful. Facing limited remaining time, he wants to pursue knowledge beyond familiar human limits.

Lines 33 to 43: Ulysses names Telemachus as his successor and praises his patience, judgment, and care for ordinary duties. The son’s gradual approach to governing contrasts with the father’s restless ambition. Ulysses presents their roles as separate, leaving readers to weigh his confidence in Telemachus against his desire to leave.

Lines 44 to 57: The speech turns outward toward the port and Ulysses’ longtime companions. Shared labor and danger support his appeal for another voyage. He acknowledges their age and approaching death but argues that meaningful action remains possible. The fading daylight and rising moon give the invitation a sense of urgency.

Lines 58 to 70: Ulysses urges the sailors to row toward a voyage without a planned return. He admits two possible outcomes: destruction at sea or arrival at the Happy Isles, where they might meet Achilles. The ending balances lost physical power against lasting resolve, making determination the strength they still possess.

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Three questions to think about

How do Ulysses’ descriptions of his subjects and Telemachus shape your view of his decision to leave?
What do the images of the arch, rust, and sinking star suggest about Ulysses’ hunger for experience?
How does the final speech balance the dangers of the voyage against the value of continuing to strive?

Free for 3 months

200,000+ classics. Every format, free to start.

eBooks, audiobooks and 15-minute summaries, and any book printed at cost, large print too.

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