CC10S

eme
sterI
V

Br
it
is
hLi
ter
atur
e:19t
hCent
ury

ACr
it
ic
alRea
dingofL
ordAl
fr
edT
enny
son'
s"Ul
yss
es"

Wel ooktot heea rl

ierma s t
ersf ors upremeex cel
lenceinpa rti
cul
ardirecti
ons:toWor dsworthfor
subli
me phi l
osophy,to Col eri
dgef ore t
her
ealma gi
c,to Byron forpa ssi
on,toS hel
leyf orlyric
i
ntensit
y,t oKe at
sf orr i
chne ss
.T enny sondoesnote xcele a
choft he
sei nhisowns peci
a lfi
eld,
buthei sof tennea rertot hepa rticula
rma ni nhispa rti
cul
arma s
ter
yt hana nyonee l
sec anbe
sai
dt obe,a ndheha si na ddi
tionhi sowns pecialfi
eldofs upr
e macy.Wha tthisisc annotbe
easi
lyde f
ined;itconsist
s,pe rhaps,i nt hebeautyoft hea t
mos pherewhichT ennysonc ont
r i
vesto
castaroundhi swor k,mol dingi tint hebluemy st
e r
yoft wili
ght,intheopa l
inehazeofs unset:
thi
sa tmosphere,suffusedov erhi spoe t
rywit
hi nesti
ma bl
es ki
llandwi that ac
tr ar
e l
ya tf a
ult,
producesa na l
mostunf ai
lingi l
l
us i
onormi ra
geofl oveli
ness.

Tennyson’s“ Uly
sses”i swr i
ttena sadramat
icmonologue:t heent irepoem i sspokenbyas ingl
e
charact
er,whos ei denti
tyi sr e
veal
ed by hi
s own wor ds .T he lines a r
ei n blank v er
se,or
unrhyme dia mbicpent a
me ter,whichservetoi mparta f luida nd na t
uralqua l
it
yt oUlys
ses'
s
speech.Ma nyoft hel i
nesa r
eenjambed,whichmea nst ha tat houg htdoe snote ndwi t
ht he
l
ine-brea
k ;thes entencesof t
enendi nt hemiddl
e,rathert hant hee nd,oft helines.Theuseof
enjambmenti sa ppropri
atei n a poem aboutpushing forwa r
d" bey ond the utmos tbound of
huma nt houg ht
."F i
nal
ly,the poe m isdiv
idedintof ours ect
ions,ea ch ofwhi chc ompri
sesa
dis
tinctthema ti
cuni toft hepoe m.

Int hi
spoem,wr it
tenin1833a ndr evi
sedforpublicat
ioni n1842,T enny s
onr e
wor kst hefi
gure
ofUl ys
sesby dr awing on the ancienthero ofHome r's"Odyssey"and t he me di
ev alhe roof
Dante'
s" Inferno".Home r'
sUl yss
es,a sdes cr
ibe
di nS c rol
lXIoft he Ody ssey,l earnsf rom a
prophecyt hathewi l
ltakeaf inalseav oyageafte
rk i
ll
ingt hes ui
tor
sofhi swi fePe ne lope.The
detai
lsoft hiss eavoyagea r
ede scri
bedbyDa nteinCa nt oXXVIoft heI nferno.Da nt e'sUlys
ses
i
sat ragi
cf ig
ur ewhodi eswhi lesail
ingtoof arina ni nsat
iabl
ethirstfork nowl edge .Tennyson
combinest heset woa cc
ountsbyha vi
ngUlyssesma kehiss peechshortl
ya fterreturni
ngt oI t
haca
andr es
umi nghi sadminis
tra
tiveresponsi
bil
i
tie
s,ands hortlybefor
ee mbarki
ngonhi sfina lvoyage.

Howev er
,t hi
spoe ma l
soc oncernsthepoe t'
sownpe rsona ljourney
,fori twa scompos edint he
fi
rstfew wee k
sa f
terTenny s
on learned ofthe deat
h ofhi sde arc ol
leg efri
end ArthurHenr y
Hall
am in 1833.L i
ke"In Me moria
m" ,then,thispoem i sa l
soa n el
egyf orade epl
yc her
ished
fri
end.Ulys s
es,who symbolizesthe g r
ievi
ng poet
,pr ocl
a i
mshi sresol
ut iontopush onwa rdi n
spi
teoft hea war
enessthat" deat
hc l
osesall
".AsT e
nny sonhi msel
fs tated,thepoeme xpr
e ss
es
hisown" needofg oi
ngf orwa r
da ndbr avi
ngt hestr
ug g
leofl i
fe"a f
tert helossofhi sbe loved
Hall
am.
Thepoe m'sf i
na lli
ne,"tos t
riv
e ,tose ek ,t ofi
nd,andnott oy i
eld,"ca metos erv
ea samot to
forthepoe t
'sVi ct
ori
anc ontemporari
es :t hepoe m'sherolongst of l
eet hetedi
um ofda i
l
ylif
e
"amongt he s
eba rr
en crags"a nd to ent eramy thi
caldimensi
on " beyond t
he sunset,and t
he
bathsofa llt hewe s
ter
ns tars";ass uc h,hewa samode lofi ndivi
dua ls
elf
-as
serti
on and t
he
Roma nti
cr ebelli
on agai
nstbour geoi
sc onf ormi
ty.ThusforT ennyson'simme di
atea udie
nce,t
he
fi
gureofUl ys
s esheldnotonl ymy t
hol og i
calme ani
ng,butstooda sani mporta
ntcontemporar
y
cul
turalic
ona swel l
.

"Ul
ysses,
"lik
ema nyofT ennys on'sothe
rpoe ms,dea l
swi ththedes i
retor e
achbe y
ondt hel
imit
s
ofone'sfiel
dofv i
si
ona ndt hemunda nede t
ail
sofe v
er y
dayl i
fe.Ulys
sesistheanti
thesi
soft he
marine
rsin" TheL otos-
Eater
s,"whopr ocl
aim" wewi llnol ongerroam"a nddesi
reonl yt orel
ax
amidstthe Lotosfields
.Inc ontras
t,Ulyss
es" cannotr estfrom tr
avel
"a nd l
ongst or oam the
gl
obe.L i
ket he LadyofS hal
lot ,who longsfort he wor l
dlyexperi
encesshe ha
sbe en denie
d,
Uly
sseshung er
stoe x pl
oretheunt r
avel
edwor l
d.

Byf art hemos tpopul arr ea di

ngoft hepoem ma tc
he st hepopul arVi ct
orianone,bui l
dst othe
famousf i
nall ine:" Tos trive,t os eek,tof i
nd,a nd nott oy iel
d."Ac cordi
ng t ot hisreading
,
"Ulyss
es"embodi estheVi c t
or i
ans t
if
f-upperli
p,thenee dt oendur ewhe nt hingsg etdif
fi
cul
ta nd
unpleasant.Howev er,a cc
or dingt oChi ass
on,thepoe m,whi chs oma nyt aket obea nuplif
ti
ng
cal
lt oc ourage ousper seve r
a nce,isinf actaf orm ofi nt e
ll
ec t
ua lsatire,whi ch" canber eada s
thedr ama ti
cpr esentat
ionofama nwhoha sfait
hnei therint heg odsnorc onsequentl
yint he
necessi
tyofpr e ser
v i
ngor deri nhi skingdom orinhi sownl i
fe",a ndt hus,l i
keT i
thonusandt he
ma r
inersi n"T heL otus-Ea
t ers"dr a
ma ti
zesa ninte
ll
ectua lposi
tiont hatt hepoetwi shestoe xpl
ore
butnota ccept.Nev er
theles s,Like Browning
's" TheBi shop Or dersHi sT omb a tS t.Prax
ed's,
"
"Ulys
ses"i sade at
hbedpoe m,whi cht reat
sde at
ha st hel astg reata dventurei ntot heunknown
— ar e adi
ng t ha tfitspe rfectl
y withT e
nnyson'
ss t
a t
e mentsa boutt he oc c
a si
on on whi ch he
wrotet hepoe ma swel last heotherpoemst heexploret hena tureofde ath.