Ulysses (Lord Alfred Tennyson)

I first read this poem by Lord Alfred Tennyson in high school, as I imagine most people do. This poem is certainly longer than most poems I cover in this blog. It's dense. Both in subject and in the physical placement of words on the page.

Ha! It's poetic fanfiction! Take a character from someone's work. Imagine their problem - put into a creative output. 14-year-olds do it. And apparently so do 19th century dudes. Of course, it's actual talent to put this kind of spin on something so established.

Ulysses has grown old. He wants to do new things once again. He wants to explore. He seems bored (ha! and that, perhaps, is why he spend days writing this masterpiece!). His declaration at the end of the poem, to never cease in exploration, at first seems wonderful - full of spirit. But on second look, it's totally an escape. He's bored at home, so he runs? And what about his family? His responsibilities?

Perhaps it's not such a bold declaration as much as the immature coward's way out.

Favorite line: "To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield."