Poetry Response #2

Britton Woodall
Jernigan
English AP
31 January 2011
Dust Can Only Settle for So Long
In “Ulysses,” Tennyson expresses the longings of youth in an old man through Ulysses, a famous Greek king. Ulysses finds himself with heart desiring adventure and a body that simply cannot do what he desires. He has returned home from his adventures and he speaks men his age.
He expresses his inability to sit still for long throughout the poem. He begins the second stanza, “I cannot rest from travel: I will drink Life to the lees.” He most nearly means he will enjoy life to the last drop. He then proceeds to summarize all the life he has enjoyed so far in his life. He recalls travels, friends, and times alone. Unfortunately, he again realizes “How dull it is to pause, to make an end, To rust unburnished, not to shine in use!” The present moment unsettles him because for the first time he sees no future in sight.
He breaks in the third stanza and mentions his son, Telemachus, briefly. He gives Telemachus his blessing and acknowledges his love for him, but he separates himself from him. He says, “He works his work, I mine.” In a sense Ulysses frees his son to rule in whatever way he sees fit. It is an odd combination of trust and lack of care anymore.
Finally, in the fourth stanza he takes heart and plans to set out again. He calls to his friends of the same age, “Tis not too late to seek a newer world.” The newer world juxtaposes their age for it is strange to think of many old men inhabiting a fresh new world. However, that does not stop Ulysses from encouraging his peers and men of age “to strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.” Ulysses understands that it is only over when it is over and not to worry about death beyond that.