Background of the Poem “Ulysses”
Poet: Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809–1892), Victorian poet laureate.
Year of composition: 1833 (after the death of his close friend Arthur Hallam).
Publication: First published in 1842 in Poems.
Form: Dramatic monologue (speaker = Ulysses).
Meter: Blank verse (unrhymed iambic pentameter).
🔹 Tennyson wrote this poem as a personal expression of grief and inner struggle. After Hallam’s death, he felt life was meaningless but also believed in the necessity of courage, perseverance, and action.
🔹 Ulysses’ voice reflects Tennyson’s own feelings: grief, restlessness, and a desire to move forward despite suffering.
Who is Ulysses?
Ulysses is the Roman name of Odysseus, the Greek hero of Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey.
Known for his intelligence, cunning, and adventurous spirit.
In Homer’s Odyssey, after the Trojan War, he took ten long years to return home to Ithaca, where he reunited with his wife Penelope and son Telemachus.
In later myths (especially Dante’s Inferno), Ulysses does not remain at home peacefully but sets out again on his final sea voyage—never to return.
🔹 Tennyson combines Homer’s heroic Ulysses with Dante’s restless adventurer.
🔹 Here, Ulysses represents the spirit of human courage, exploration, and the refusal to give up in old age.
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About the Poem
“Ulysses” is about an old king, back from war and travels, who feels bored and trapped by the quiet life of ruling.
He rejects a life of comfort, leaving the kingdom to his son Telemachus, and decides to set sail once more with his loyal companions.
The poem explores themes of adventure, restlessness, the pursuit of knowledge, heroism, old age, and death.
The final lines—“To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield”—are a powerful call to never stop striving, even in the face of death.
Ulysses – Line by Line Explanation
Lines 1–5
> It little profits that an idle king,
By this still hearth, among these barren crags,
Match’d with an aged wife, I mete and dole
Unequal laws unto a savage race,
That hoard, and sleep, and feed, and know not me.
🔹 Ulysses says it is useless (“little profits”) for him, an old king, to sit idly at home by the fire.
🔹 His island Ithaca is rocky and barren.
🔹 He feels stuck with an aged wife (Penelope).
🔹 His duty of ruling—giving out laws to his rough, uncivilized people—bores him.
🔹 These people only eat, sleep, and store wealth, without caring about him or his greatness.
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Lines 6–12
> I cannot rest from travel: I will drink
Life to the lees: all times I have enjoy’d
Greatly, have suffer’d greatly, both with those
That loved me, and alone, on shore, and when
Thro’ scudding drifts the rainy Hyades
Vext the dim sea: I am become a name;
🔹 He declares he cannot live without travel.
🔹 He wants to enjoy life to the fullest, like drinking wine to the last drop (“lees”).
🔹 He recalls joys and sufferings—sometimes with companions, sometimes alone.
🔹 He has faced stormy seas (Hyades = stars linked with rain).
🔹 His adventures have made him famous—his name is legendary.
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Lines 13–18
> For always roaming with a hungry heart
Much have I seen and known; cities of men
And manners, climates, councils, governments,
Myself not least, but honour’d of them all;
And drunk delight of battle with my peers,
Far on the ringing plains of windy Troy.
🔹 His heart is always restless (“hungry heart”).
🔹 He has seen many places—different cities, customs, climates, governments.
🔹 Everywhere, he was respected and honored.
🔹 He remembers the joy of fighting bravely with his comrades in the Trojan War.
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Lines 19–26
> I am a part of all that I have met;
Yet all experience is an arch wherethro’
Gleams that untravell’d world, whose margin fades
For ever and for ever when I move.
How dull it is to pause, to make an end,
To rust unburnish’d, not to shine in use!
🔹 Every experience has shaped him (“a part of all that I have met”).
🔹 But experience is like an arch—through it he sees glimpses of new, unexplored worlds that keep moving further away.
🔹 To stop exploring is dull.
🔹 Life is wasted if one does nothing—like a sword rusting unused instead of shining in battle.
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Lines 27–32
> As tho’ to breathe were life! Life piled on life
Were all too little, and of one to me
Little remains: but every hour is saved
From that eternal silence, something more,
A bringer of new things; and vile it were
For some three suns to store and hoard myself,
🔹 Just breathing is not true living.
🔹 Even many lives would not satisfy him—one life is too short.
🔹 He has only a little time left before death (“eternal silence”).
🔹 Every remaining hour should bring new knowledge and adventure.
🔹 It would be disgraceful (“vile”) to waste his last few days (“three suns”) in idleness.
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Lines 33–36
> And this gray spirit yearning in desire
To follow knowledge like a sinking star,
Beyond the utmost bound of human thought.
🔹 His old age (“gray spirit”) still yearns for knowledge.
🔹 He wants to chase knowledge endlessly, like following a distant star.
🔹 His desire goes “beyond the limits” of what humans can know.
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Lines 37–43
> This is my son, mine own Telemachus,
To whom I leave the sceptre and the isle—
Well-loved of me, discerning to fulfil
This labour, by slow prudence to make mild
A rugged people, and thro’ soft degrees
Subdue them to the useful and the good.
🔹 Ulysses turns to his son, Telemachus.
🔹 He will leave the throne and Ithaca to him.
🔹 He loves Telemachus, who is wise and practical.
🔹 His son will civilize and guide the rough people gradually, through patient and careful rule.
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Lines 44–53
> Most blameless is he, centred in the sphere
Of common duties, decent not to fail
In offices of tenderness, and pay
Meet adoration to my household gods,
When I am gone. He works his work, I mine.
🔹 Telemachus is blameless, responsible, and steady in ordinary duties.
🔹 He will perform family and religious duties faithfully.
🔹 Ulysses respects him—but their paths are different: his son will rule, while Ulysses seeks adventure.
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Lines 54–62
> There lies the port; the vessel puffs her sail:
There gloom the dark, broad seas. My mariners,
Souls that have toil’d, and wrought, and thought with me—
That ever with a frolic welcome took
The thunder and the sunshine, and opposed
Free hearts, free foreheads—you and I are old;
Old age hath yet his honour and his toil;
Death closes all: but something ere the end,
Some work of noble note, may yet be done,
Not unbecoming men that strove with Gods.
🔹 He sees the harbor, the ship ready to sail, and the dark sea beyond.
🔹 He calls to his old comrades—men who shared hard work, joys, and sorrows with him.
🔹 Though old, they still have dignity and strength.
🔹 Death will come, but before that they can still achieve a noble deed—worthy of men who once fought against gods.
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Lines 63–70 (Closing Lines)
> The lights begin to twinkle from the rocks:
The long day wanes: the slow moon climbs: the deep
Moans round with many voices. Come, my friends,
’Tis not too late to seek a newer world.
Push off, and sitting well in order smite
The sounding furrows; for my purpose holds
To sail beyond the sunset, and the baths
Of all the western stars, until I die.
🔹 Night falls—the stars twinkle, the moon rises, the sea roars.
🔹 He urges his men: it is not too late to discover new worlds.
🔹 They should row strongly (“smite the furrows”) into the sea.
🔹 His goal is to sail beyond the sunset, past the western stars, until death.
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Lines 71–81 (Final Vision)
> It may be that the gulfs will wash us down:
It may be we shall touch the Happy Isles,
And see the great Achilles, whom we knew.
Tho’ much is taken, much abides; and tho’
We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are;
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.
🔹 Perhaps the sea will drown them.
🔹 Or perhaps they will reach the Happy Isles (paradise for heroes) and meet Achilles again.
🔹 They have lost much of their youthful strength, but something still remains.
🔹 Their spirit is unbroken—they are still heroic at heart.
🔹 Final message: Though weakened by time, they will never give up—always striving, seeking, discovering, without surrender.
Hard Word Meanings from “Ulysses”
1. Profits (It little profits) – benefits, is of little use.
2. Idle – inactive, doing nothing.
3. Still hearth – quiet fireplace, symbol of domestic life.
4. Barren crags – infertile rocky land of Ithaca.
5. Mete and dole – measure out and distribute (laws or justice).
6. Savage race – uncivilized or rough people.
7. Hoard – store, keep selfishly.
8. Drink life to the lees – experience life fully, to the last drop (lees = dregs of wine).
9. Scudding drifts – fast-moving clouds driven by wind.
10. Hyades – a group of stars associated with stormy weather.
11. Vext (Vexed) – disturbed, troubled.
12. Hungry heart – restless desire for more experiences.
13. Manners – customs, ways of living.
14. Councils – governing bodies, assemblies.
15. Peers – companions, equals.
16. Ringing plains – echoing battlefield.
17. Arch wherethro’ – arch through which (metaphor for gateway to new experiences).
18. Untravell’d world – unexplored world, unknown knowledge.
19. Margin fades – horizon recedes, never fully reached.
20. Rust unburnish’d – corrode without being polished (symbol of wasted life).
21. Piled on life – life stacked upon life (many lives).
22. Eternal silence – death.
23. Vile it were – it would be disgraceful.
24. Gray spirit – old age, tired yet yearning soul.
25. Sinking star – distant star, symbol of unreachable knowledge.
26. Sceptre – symbol of kingship.
27. Prudence – wisdom, careful judgment.
28. Rugged people – rough, uncivilized subjects.
29. Sphere of common duties – ordinary responsibilities of ruling and family life.
30. Household gods – family deities (Greek: Lares and Penates).
31. Port – harbor, place where ships depart.
32. Vessel puffs her sail – ship ready to sail with wind in sails.
33. Mariners – sailors, companions at sea.
34. Frolic welcome – cheerful acceptance.
35. Free hearts, free foreheads – brave, noble companions.
36. Death closes all – death ends everything.
37. Noble note – great, memorable deed.
38. Strive with Gods – fought alongside or against gods (refers to Trojan War).
39. Twinkle from the rocks – lights shining from coastal rocks at night.
40. Wanes – fades, declines.
41. Furrows – grooves in the sea made by oars.
42. Smite the sounding furrows – row strongly, striking the waves.
43. Baths of all the western stars – mythical edge of the world where stars set.
44. Gulfs – deep waters, possible drowning.
45. Happy Isles – paradise where Greek heroes go after death.
46. Achilles – greatest Greek warrior of the Trojan War.
47. Much is taken, much abides – much strength lost, but much still remains.
48. Equal temper of heroic hearts – balanced, steady nature of courageous souls.
49. Yield – give up, surrender.
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Ulysses – 100 One-Liner Questions with Answers
Background & Poet (1–15)
1. Who wrote the poem Ulysses?
Alfred Lord Tennyson. → Famous Victorian poet.
2. When was Ulysses written?
3. → After Tennyson’s friend Arthur Hallam’s death.
4. When was Ulysses published?
5. → In Poems.
6. What kind of poem is Ulysses?
Dramatic monologue. → One speaker reveals his mind.
7. What meter does Ulysses use?
Blank verse. → Unrhymed iambic pentameter.
8. What is the form of the poem?
Dramatic soliloquy. → Ulysses speaks his thoughts.
9. Who is Ulysses?
Roman name for Odysseus. → Hero of Iliad and Odyssey.
10. What war did Ulysses fight in?
Trojan War. → Legendary 10-year war.
11. Who is Ulysses’ wife?
Penelope. → Described as “aged wife.”
12. Who is Ulysses’ son?
Telemachus. → Future king of Ithaca.
13. What kingdom does Ulysses rule?
Ithaca. → Small rocky island.
14. What inspired Tennyson to write Ulysses?
Death of Arthur Hallam. → Gave sense of grief + hope.
15. Which Italian poet also influenced Tennyson’s Ulysses?
Dante Alighieri. → Inferno Canto 26, where Ulysses sails again.
16. What does Ulysses symbolize in the poem?
Human spirit of adventure. → Refusal to live idly.
17. What is the famous closing motto of Ulysses?
“To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.” → Message of courage.
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Opening (16–30)
16. How does Ulysses describe his role as king?
Idle and useless. → Ruling feels boring.
17. What does “still hearth” mean?
Quiet fireplace. → Symbol of domestic life.
18. What does “barren crags” mean?
Rocky land of Ithaca. → Unfertile, dull place.
19. How does Ulysses describe his wife?
“Aged wife.” → Old, ordinary life.
20. What does “mete and dole” mean?
Distribute laws. → Boring kingly duty.
21. How does he describe his people?
A savage race. → Uncivilized, dull.
22. What do his people do all the time?
Hoard, sleep, feed. → Only material life.
23. Do his people know him truly?
No. → They “know not me.”
24. Why is Ulysses unhappy as king?
No excitement or glory.
25. What is meant by “little profits”?
Little use. → No benefit.
26. What does Ulysses want instead of ruling?
Travel and adventure.
27. What kind of life does Ulysses reject?
Domestic and political routine.
28. What image does Tennyson use for wasted life?
Rust unburnished. → A sword unused.
29. What role does idleness play in Ulysses’ complaint?
It makes life meaningless.
30. Why does he call ruling Ithaca unequal laws?
People are savage → justice feels wasted.
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Travel & Experience (31–55)
31. What does “drink life to the lees” mean?
Enjoy life fully.
32. What is “lees”?
Dregs of wine. → Last drop.
33. What does Ulysses say about rest?
“I cannot rest from travel.”
34. Has Ulysses faced suffering?
Yes. → “Greatly suffer’d.”
35. What are the “Hyades”?
Stars causing rainstorms.
36. What does “vext the dim sea” mean?
Storm troubled the sea.
37. What does “I am become a name” mean?
He is famous.
38. What kind of heart does Ulysses have?
Hungry heart. → Always restless.
39. What has Ulysses seen in his travels?
Cities, manners, climates, councils.
40. Has Ulysses been honored abroad?
Yes. → Everywhere respected.
41. What great war does he remember?
Trojan War.
42. What are “ringing plains of windy Troy”?
Battlefields of Troy.
43. What does “peers” mean?
Fellow warriors.
44. How does Ulysses view battle?
Drank delight of it. → Enjoyed glory.
45. What metaphor does he use for experience?
Arch through which new worlds are seen.
46. What does “margin fades” mean?
Horizon always recedes.
47. Why is pausing dull for Ulysses?
It kills spirit of adventure.
48. What does he compare wasted life to?
A rusting sword.
49. What does Ulysses think of simple breathing?
“As tho’ to breathe were life.” → Breathing alone is not life.
50. What is “eternal silence”?
Death.
51. What does Ulysses call vile?
To store and hoard himself in old age.
52. What does his “gray spirit” yearn for?
Knowledge.
53. What image does he use for knowledge?
Sinking star.
54. What lies beyond the arch of experience?
Untravelled world.
55. What does Ulysses mean by “life piled on life”?
Even many lives are not enough for adventure.
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Telemachus (56–70)
56. Who is Telemachus?
Ulysses’ son.
57. What does Ulysses leave to Telemachus?
Sceptre and isle (throne).
58. What quality does Ulysses praise in Telemachus?
Prudence.
59. What does Telemachus aim to do with the people?
Make mild a rugged people.
60. How will he civilize them?
Through soft degrees.
61. Is Telemachus blameless?
Yes, “Most blameless.”
62. What kind of duties will Telemachus perform?
Common duties.
63. What does “sphere of common duties” mean?
Everyday responsibilities.
64. What does Telemachus show in ruling?
Tenderness.
65. What are household gods?
Family deities.
66. Who will worship them after Ulysses?
Telemachus.
67. What phrase shows Ulysses respects Telemachus’ work?
“He works his work, I mine.”
68. Does Ulysses think Telemachus is fit for kingship?
Yes.
69. Does Ulysses criticize Telemachus?
No, he admires him.
70. Why does Ulysses not want to rule himself?
His spirit longs for adventure.
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Final Voyage (71–100)
71. Where does Ulysses point his men?
The port.
72. What does “vessel puffs her sail” mean?
Ship ready to sail.
73. What does “gloom the dark, broad seas” mean?
Sea looks dark and vast.
74. Who are his mariners?
His old companions.
75. How have they lived together?
Toil’d, wrought, thought with me.
76. How did they take hardship?
With a frolic welcome.
77. What phrase describes their spirit?
Free hearts, free foreheads.
78. Are they old now?
Yes.
79. What does Ulysses say about old age?
It still has honor and toil.
80. What closes all?
Death.
81. What does he want before death?
Some noble work.
82. What kind of work?
Worthy of men who fought with gods.
83. What time of day is described in final section?
Evening → stars, moon, sea.
84. What does he urge his friends?
’Tis not too late to seek a newer world.
85. What does “smite the sounding furrows” mean?
Row hard into the sea.
86. What does “beyond the sunset” mean?
Beyond known world.
87. What are “baths of all the western stars”?
Mythical edge of world.
88. What may happen in the voyage?
Gulfs may drown them.
89. What is the hopeful outcome?
They may reach Happy Isles.
90. What are the Happy Isles?
Paradise of Greek heroes.
91. Whom does he hope to meet there?
Achilles.
92. What does “tho’ much is taken, much abides” mean?
They lost strength but still have spirit.
93. What does “equal temper of heroic hearts” mean?
Balanced, noble courage.
94. What has weakened them?
Time and fate.
95. What remains strong in them?
Their will.
96. What four verbs end the poem?
Strive, seek, find, not yield.
97. What is the tone of the ending?
Heroic and uplifting.
98. What message does the poem give about old age?
Old age can still achieve greatness.
99. What universal theme does Ulysses represent?
Human spirit of adventure and courage.
100. What is the central idea of Ulysses?
Never give up—keep seeking purpose until death.
50 More One-Liner Questions & Answers on Ulysses
General & Contextual
1. Who is the speaker of the poem Ulysses?
– Ulysses himself.
(It is a dramatic monologue in his voice.)
2. To whom is the poem addressed?
– The mariners and indirectly the readers.
(Ulysses inspires both his sailors and humanity.)
3. Which mythological hero is Ulysses based on?
– Odysseus from Greek mythology.
(Roman name is Ulysses.)
4. From which epic is Ulysses originally known?
– Homer’s Odyssey.
(Describes his return to Ithaca after Trojan War.)
5. Which Italian poet reimagined Ulysses as restless?
– Dante, in The Divine Comedy.
(In Inferno, Ulysses sails again, never returning home.)
6. Why does Ulysses dislike ruling Ithaca?
– He finds it boring and unadventurous.
(He longs for exploration instead of governance.)
7. Who is Telemachus in the poem?
– Ulysses’ son.
(He is entrusted with ruling Ithaca.)
8. Who is Penelope?
– Ulysses’ wife.
(Though not directly mentioned, she is part of his life at Ithaca.)
9. What personal event inspired Tennyson to write this poem?
– Death of his close friend, Arthur Hallam.
(The poem reflects grief and perseverance.)
10. What year was Ulysses first published?
– 1842.
(Though composed in 1833.)
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Themes & Ideas
11. What central theme does Ulysses highlight?
– Restlessness and pursuit of knowledge.
(Life must be lived in action, not idleness.)
12. What does Ulysses value more than ruling?
– Adventure and discovery.
(He prefers roaming to being king.)
13. What is Ulysses’ attitude toward old age?
– Defiance.
(Old age cannot stop striving for greatness.)
14. What is the ultimate message of the poem?
– Never stop striving until death.
(Summed in the last line.)
15. Why is Ulysses unhappy with his people?
– He calls them a “savage race” who only care for food and sleep.
(They lack heroic spirit.)
16. Why does Ulysses call life “barren”?
– Because a static life feels meaningless.
(Life without adventure is unfruitful.)
17. Why is travel important to Ulysses?
– It broadens knowledge and enriches the soul.
(He values experience over comfort.)
18. How does Ulysses view death?
– As natural but not a reason to stop striving.
(Death is the final port.)
19. What is meant by “to follow knowledge like a sinking star”?
– Knowledge is infinite and worth pursuing endlessly.
(Even if unreachable, it should be sought.)
20. What does the sea symbolize in the poem?
– Adventure, life’s journey, and the unknown.
(The sea is his path to discovery.)
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Quotations & Meanings
21. “I cannot rest from travel”—what does it show?
– Ulysses’ dissatisfaction with idleness.
(He cannot live without action.)
22. “I am a part of all that I have met”—what does it mean?
– His identity is shaped by his experiences.
(Each adventure adds to him.)
23. “Life piled on life”—what does it mean?
– Life has endless possibilities.
(One lifetime feels too short.)
24. “An idle king”—what is meant here?
– A useless ruler sitting at home.
(He disapproves of his passive role.)
25. “Death closes all”—meaning?
– Death ends life but not the spirit’s courage.
(It sets a limit but not before striving.)
26. “To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield”—what is the message?
– Keep fighting and searching, never give up.
(Immortal call for resilience.)
27. “Vext the dim sea”—what does it describe?
– Ships disturbing the sea during voyages.
(Evokes imagery of adventure.)
28. “Yet all experience is an arch”—what does the arch mean?
– A gateway to new horizons.
(Each experience leads to another discovery.)
29. “One equal temper of heroic hearts”—what does it mean?
– His sailors share courage and noble spirit.
(They are united in heroism.)
30. “Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will”—meaning?
– Though physically old, the spirit is powerful.
(Willpower is greater than age.)
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Characters & Roles
31. Who rules Ithaca in Ulysses’ absence?
– Telemachus, his son.
(He is portrayed as patient and dutiful.)
32. What qualities does Ulysses praise in Telemachus?
– Patience, prudence, and dedication to duties.
(A good ruler but unlike Ulysses.)
33. How is Telemachus different from Ulysses?
– He is steady and responsible; Ulysses is adventurous.
(They complement each other.)
34. Why does Ulysses leave Ithaca to Telemachus?
– He trusts his son to govern.
(So he can pursue his final voyage.)
35. Who are the “free hearts, free foreheads”?
– The mariners who join Ulysses.
(They share his love of adventure.)
36. How does Ulysses motivate his sailors?
– By reminding them of past adventures and shared courage.
(Inspires them for one last journey.)
37. Who is the “hungry heart”?
– Ulysses himself.
(Represents his endless desire for experience.)
38. Who does Ulysses call a “savage race”?
– The people of Ithaca.
(He feels superior to them.)
39. Who is entrusted with the household gods?
– Telemachus.
(Symbol of family and tradition.)
40. Who accompanies Ulysses on his last voyage?
– His loyal mariners.
(They share his heroic spirit.)
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Broader Analysis
41. What kind of poem is Ulysses?
– A dramatic monologue.
(Speaker = Ulysses, audience = mariners.)
42. What does Ulysses symbolize in the poem?
– The eternal human quest for meaning.
(Man’s spirit of exploration.)
43. What is Tennyson’s own voice in the poem?
– His grief, restlessness, and resolve after loss.
(Hallam’s death inspired it.)
44. What is the tone of the poem?
– Noble, determined, and defiant.
(Refuses despair or idleness.)
45. What is the central conflict in Ulysses?
– Between duty at home and desire for adventure.
(Inner struggle of old age vs ambition.)
46. What does the last voyage represent?
– Life’s final journey toward death.
(But faced with courage, not fear.)
47. What literary movement does the poem belong to?
– Victorian poetry.
(But inspired by classical and Romantic spirit.)
48. What universal truth does Ulysses express?
– Human beings always long for more.
(Restlessness is part of life.)
49. Why is Ulysses considered inspirational?
– Its call to “strive” despite weakness.
(Motivates readers of all ages.)
50. How does Tennyson present heroism?
– Not in comfort, but in pursuit of the unknown.
(Heroism is about striving till the end.)
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