Explication of Ulysses Essay - 662 Words

Explication Of Ulysses In this poem, Tennyson reworks the figure of Ulysses by drawing on the ancient hero of Homers Odyssey. Homers Ulysses learns from a prophecy that he will take a final sea voyage after killing the suitors of his wife Penelope. Ulysses finds himself restless in Ithaca and driven by the longing I had to gain experience of the world†. Ulysses says that there is little point in his staying home by this still hearth with his old wife, handing out rewards and punishments for all of his subjects who live in his kingdom. Still speaking to himself he proclaims that he cannot rest from travel but feels required to live to the fullest and swallow every last drop of life. He has enjoyed all his experiences as†¦show more content†¦His spirit yearns constantly for new experiences that will broaden his life; he wishes to follow knowledge like a sinking star and forever grow in knowledge and in learning. Ulysses now speaks to an unidentified audience concerning his son, Telemachus, who will act as his successor while the great hero goes on with his travels: he says, This is my son, mine own Telemachus, to whom I leave the scepter and the isle. He speaks highly but also arrogantly of his sons capabilities as a ruler, praising his care, dedication, and devotion to the gods. Telemachus will do his work of governing the island while Ulysses will do his work of traveling the seas: He works his work, I mine. In the final stanza, Ulysses addresses the mariners with whom he has worked, traveled, and weathered lifes storms over many years. He declares that although they are both old, they still have the potential to do something good and honorable before the long day wanes. He encourages them to make use of their old age because tis not too late to seek a newer world. He declares that his goal is to sail onward beyond the sunset until his death. Maybe, he suggests, they may even reach the Happy Isles, or the paradise of eternal summer described in Greek mythology where great heroes like the warrior Achilles were believed to have been taken after their deaths. Although Ulysses and his mariners are not as strong as they were in youth, they are strong in will and are sustained by theirShow MoreRelatedEssay The Thought Process of Shakespeares Hamlet4082 Words   |  17 PagesRevolutionibus and Galileos visual proofs in Sidereus Nuncius. Without derailing too much from our train of thought, I will simply bring up two examples of this cosmological crisis. The first is in Hamlets love letter to Ophelia, which requires little explication: Doubt thou the stars are fire, / Doubt that the sun doth move (II.ii.115-116). The second instance relies on a triple pun as Hamlet bids adieu to the Ghost: Remember thee? Ay, thou poor ghost, whiles memory holds a seat / In this distractedRead MoreStructuralism and Interpretation Ernest Hemingways Cat in Ther Ain9284 Words   |  38 Pagesfrom recent developments in the theory of narrative and poetics of fiction. AT IN THE RAIN: A PLURALISTIC APPROACH 7 sophisticated literary narratives; and the exponents of narratology themselves frequently remind us that their aim is not the explication of texts but the uncovering of the system that allows narrative texts to be generated and competent readers to make sense of them. Narratology does however bring to the attention of the literary critic factors involved in reading narrative thatRead More The Death of the ‘Authorlessness Theory’? Essay6470 Words   |  26 Pagessong—filmmakers can adapt a novel or even remake a preexisting movie—but novelists cannot â€Å"rewrite† another novelist’s novel and put their name on it. If the term rewrite is stretched, James Joyce can be said to have rewritten The Odyssey when he wrote Ulysses. But if he had literally rewritten The Odyssey—changed several of the words and scenes (or â€Å"covered† it)—and put his name on it, he would have been the butt of literary jokes until he was doomed t o obscurity. In every example I haveRead MoreANALIZ TEXT INTERPRETATION AND ANALYSIS28843 Words   |  116 Pagespossible to tell the reader everything that â€Å"happened† to the characters. (James Joyce once contemplated writing a short story recording everything that happened during a single day in the lives of Stephen Dedalus and Leopold Bloom. The result was Ulysses which grew to 767 pages and even then covered only twenty-one and a half hours.) In constructing the plot, the author will of necessity be forced to select those incidents that are most relevant to the story to be told. Those incidents that are the