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Tennyson

1) Alfred Tennyson's poem "Ulysses" reflects his philosophy that one should constantly seek knowledge and adventure, and not rest until death, as embodied by the character Ulysses. 2) Ulysses finds his current life of leisure meaningless and desires new exploration, seeking to grasp the unattainable and infinite in line with Victorian values of progress. 3) Tennyson merges his own ideals of continual striving for knowledge with those of Ulysses, making the poem an artistic expression of both character and poet's philosophy of fully utilizing one's life through activity until the end.

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TANBIR RAHAMAN
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309 views2 pages

Tennyson

1) Alfred Tennyson's poem "Ulysses" reflects his philosophy that one should constantly seek knowledge and adventure, and not rest until death, as embodied by the character Ulysses. 2) Ulysses finds his current life of leisure meaningless and desires new exploration, seeking to grasp the unattainable and infinite in line with Victorian values of progress. 3) Tennyson merges his own ideals of continual striving for knowledge with those of Ulysses, making the poem an artistic expression of both character and poet's philosophy of fully utilizing one's life through activity until the end.

Uploaded by

TANBIR RAHAMAN
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Tennysons philosophy of life as reflected in the poem Ulysses

Few poets have produced acknowledged masterpieces in so many different poetic genres as
Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809-1892); he furnished perhaps the most notable example in English
letters of the eclectic style. His consummately crafted verse expresses in readily comprehensible
terms the Victorian feeling for order and harmony.
Tennyson, like Browning, is the great literary titan of Victorian Age whose philosophy of life is
expressed again and again through his poetry.
Tennyson was devout Christian and ardent believer in God;
That God, which ever loves and loves
One God, one law, one element,
The one far off divine event
To which the whole creation moves.
He was not a religious fanatic and ultra-modern. He, therefore, equally welcomed the influence
of historic Christianity and modern scientific thought. His philosophy was practical. In Ulysses
his philosophy and personality both are seen to be merged. Tennyson himself said that Ulysses
which was written shortly after Hallams death (September-1832), gave his feeling about the
need of going forward, and braving the struggle of life, perhaps more simply than anything in In
Memoriam (1850). Ulysses (published in 1842) is one of his massive pillars on which
Tennysons fame mainly rests. It embodies the modern passion for knowledge, for the
exploration of its rimittess fields, for the annexation of the new kingdom of science and
thought. [Prof Hales].Ulysses a dramatic monologue spoken by the hero of The Iliad and The
Odyssey is the characteristic of strong meter and well-placed consonance and assonance, with the
excellent bold massage of navigation.
Ulysses finds the meaninglessness of life, which he has been enjoying in his hilly kingdom in the
company of old wife and ruling over the savage people who do not know him. He wants to
drink life to the less as a typical Victorian would have done. A life of indolence is no more than
death. It is a life in death. A life of rest from all toils and moils is not desired. He has seen much
and known much but is not satisfied with what he gained. For him as to the Victorians;
All experience is an arch where through
Gleams that untravelled world whose mergin fades
For ever and for ever when I move.
The adventurous spirit in Ulysses does not allow him , to pause, to make and end,
to rust unburnished, not to shine in use! The unquenchable desire seized him to follow
knowledge like a sinking star/ beyond the utmost bound of human thought.
Ulysses energy is inexhaustible. Mans life is short. To Ulysses a little life is left. But
old age does not mean, for him the end of life. He is firmly determined to make the best use of

every hour of life. To remain inactive means an end of life. So to Ulysses ceaseless activity and
motion and not to strive, to seek, to find and not to yield are ought to be ever remembered as
even in old age. Some work of noble note may yet be done. Till ones death every hours should
be spent in actively.
It may prove a bringer of new things. This guiding principle for life is typically Tennysonian and
basically Victorian in tone.
The high spirit and energy and resolution of Victorian Age are fully celebrated in
Ulysses. Ulysses like a typical Victorian is fired with energy to grasp the unattainable and the
infinite. With his old mariners he is extremely eager to go out a new voyage in search of
undiscovered shores and fresh adventures;
To sail beyond the sunset and the bathes
Of all the western stars until I die.
It is true that though the mariners are not in full strength of young, though they are
made weak by time and fate but they have the will and the determination to touch the
untouchable.
The robust vigorousness of Ulysses is expressed again and again. The personality of
the poet and the philosophy both are seem to be merged. What the poet feels, expresses through
lips of Ulysses. Ulysses own idea and ideals, his own thrust for knowledge, his desire to see the
unseen, to know the unknown and to touch the untouchable are basically the ideals and desire of
the poet.
Thus Tennysons Ulysses is a superb creation of artistic excellence. With Keatsian
pictorial quality and his astonishing command of musical resources of language is blended so
accurately that it becomes a landmark in English literature. It expresses the philosophy (attitude
towards life) of the poet as well as energy and resolution of his age. Tennysons attitude towards
life here is in sharp contrast to the attitude revealed in The Lotos-Eaters.
Surely, Surely, slumber is more sweet than toil, the shore
Than labour in the deep mid-Gean, wind and shore the wave and oar;
Oh rest ye, brother mariners, we will not wander more.
They find no meaning in toil in view of the fact that death closes all.

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