Blogpost #2 Response

     Tennyson’s “Ulysses” offers its readers somewhat of an “untold story” of Ulysses’ (AKA Odysseus’) return to Ithaca. It takes a dark, and arguable ironic approach to Ulysses, who soliloquizes his discontent with the monotony of life overseeing his kingdom (this after spending 10 years at war, and 10 years attempting to return from war). Drawn in to question is the matter of whether or not Ulysses speaks to himself (or in his head), or if he addresses a person, group or crowd. The iambic pentameter of the piece would suggest that the words are spoken aloud, and not silently thought. The poem’s meter parallels the natural rhythm of speech. Also indicative of the poem’s intended nature is its division in to four segments, each with a different topic: the pointlessness of remaining in Ithaca, the restlessness of remaining in Ithaca, the role of Telemachus and an encouragement of his former seamen to continue with travel and to “seek a newer world.” The thematic arrangement of the poem would indicate a varied audience, as if Ulysses intends for each portion of his speech to appeal to a different group of people. However, there is no distinct break or transition between themes. In fact, the poem’s enjambment serves to carry the reader along from line to line with little interruption, paralleling the seamless organization of an individual’s stream of thought. This once again begs the question, to whom does Ulysses speak? Perhaps it is not to a person, but to some higher entity, the universe even. The speaker voices his desire to transcend “the utmost bound of human thought,” a line suggesting that Ulysses speaks to no designated audience, but to humanity in its entirety. He offers a message: achieving the grandest adventure is no justification to stop adventuring.