Reading both poems together offers a powerful way to explore the true cost of immortality and the value of mortality. Tennyson published "Ulysses" in 1842 but delayed "Tithonus" until 1860, leaving readers with only one part of the discussion for a long time. With both poems accessible now, the dialogue between them is impossible to overlook.
One poem serves as a battle cry, while the other is a heartfelt plea for release — both born from the same grief, revealing just how complex the desire to live can be.
§01 The thesis
Tithonus & Ulysses
A reader's case for putting these two side by side — what each carries, and what they argue when they sit on the same page.
§02 The dialectic axes
The two poems on four axes
Each axis isolates one specific vector — speaker, form, image, closing move — and reads the two poems against each other on that single dimension.
Axis
Poem A
Tithonus
Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Poem B
Ulysses
Alfred, Lord Tennyson
01Speaker
Poem A · Tithonus
Tithonus speaks like someone who has already lost his sense of self. He talks about his former self in the third person — "once a man, so glorious in his beauty" — and truly questions whether he is still the same person who once lay in Aurora's arms. Time, which he never agreed to continue enduring, has hollowed out his identity.
Poem B · Ulysses
Ulysses expresses himself as a man who remains true to his identity and is aware of it. "I am a part of all that I have met" reflects a strong sense of self, not a sorrowful remark. While age has taken a toll on his body, his understanding of himself — as a traveler, a fighter, a seeker — remains steadfast.
02Form
Poem A · Tithonus
"Tithonus" is written in blank verse and features long, flowing verse paragraphs that loop and double back like a breath. The syntax reflects the speaker's state: sentences that appear to reach an end but keep going, unable to stop.
Poem B · Ulysses
"Ulysses" is written in blank verse, and its three distinct sections — Ulysses alone, Ulysses speaking to Telemachus, and Ulysses addressing his crew — create a sense of forward momentum. Each section brings him closer to the ship, effectively illustrating the poem's argument.
03Central image
Poem A · Tithonus
The central image in "Tithonus" contrasts Aurora's daily renewal with Tithonus's relentless decay. Each morning, she becomes more beautiful, while he becomes colder on her doorstep. The poem's most poignant line encapsulates this: "Immortal age beside immortal youth."
Poem B · Ulysses
The central image in "Ulysses" is the arch: "all experience is an arch wherethro' / Gleams that untravell'd world, whose margin fades / For ever and for ever when I move." The horizon constantly shifts away. For Ulysses, this isn’t a tragedy — it’s the essence of life itself.
04Closing move
Poem A · Tithonus
Tithonus ends with a quiet, almost gentle acceptance: "I earth in earth forget these empty courts, / And thee returning on thy silver wheels." He envisions his own return to the soil as a source of solace. The last image is of Aurora departing — not him.
Poem B · Ulysses
Ulysses concludes with one of the most famous lines in Victorian poetry: "To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield." This serves as a rallying cry not only to his crew but also to himself. The poem finishes on an optimistic note, with the ship ready to set sail.
§03 Synthesis & departure
The shared ground and the divergence
Shared
Both poems feature dramatic monologues delivered by aging men from classical mythology who feel disconnected from the world around them. They grapple with themes of time's passage, the fading of their former selves, and the search for meaning in life as it approaches its end — or, in Tithonus's case, stretches on indefinitely.
Structurally, both poems use blank verse — unrhymed iambic pentameter — which gives each speaker a voice that feels like a personal reflection rather than a performance. The rhythm flows like conversation yet remains controlled, allowing Tennyson to craft long, meandering sentences that culminate in a powerful, poignant statement.
Each speaker also contrasts their current decline with vivid, almost tangible memories of their past glory. Ulysses reminisces about the "delight of battle" on the plains of Troy, while Tithonus thinks back to lying warm under Aurora's kisses, his blood illuminated by her light. This stark contrast between a radiant past and a dull present serves as the emotional driving force behind both poems.
Where they diverge
The poems take sharply different paths. Ulysses looks outward — toward the sea, the horizon, and death viewed as the ultimate frontier. His final words, "To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield," urge a relentless pursuit. In contrast, Tithonus gazes inward and backward, pleading with Aurora to "release me, and restore me to the ground." One man is launching into the unknown; the other seeks to return to the earth.
Their attitudes toward mortality reflect opposing views. Ulysses acknowledges his impending death and sees it as a motivation to act in the present. Tithonus, on the other hand, cannot die and perceives this as the harshest of fates. The particular imagery Tithonus employs — "happy men that have the power to die, / And grassy barrows of the happier dead" — would be unimaginable for Ulysses.
In terms of tone, Ulysses is assertive and outward-looking, while Tithonus is mournful and self-effacing. Ulysses wields the word "I" with force; Tithonus uses it as a soft lament.
§04 A reader's order of operations
Which to read first
If you enjoyed the drive and defiance of "Ulysses," then "Tithonus" is your next read—it directly addresses Ulysses's wish and reveals the true cost of that desire. These two poems are interconnected. If "Tithonus" was your first encounter and its themes of grief and exhaustion resonated with you, then "Ulysses" will hit you like a cold splash of water: it's the same poet, the same mythology, the same blank verse, yet it offers a completely different perspective on the question of whether life is worth fighting for.
§05 Reader's questions
On Tithonus vs Ulysses, frequently asked
Answer
Yes, Tennyson wrote both poems in 1833 following Arthur Hallam's death, referring to them as pendants—two works intended to be read together. "Ulysses" came out in 1842, while he kept "Tithonus" unpublished for nearly twenty years, releasing it in 1860.
Answer
Both works were drafted in 1833, making them contemporaneous. "Ulysses" was published first, in 1842. "Tithonus" was later published in *Cornhill Magazine* in 1860 in a revised format, although an earlier manuscript version titled "Tithon" had been around since the 1830s.
Answer
Yes, often. They are commonly found together in A-level and university syllabi, highlighting themes of aging, identity, and mortality. Tennyson himself presents them as companion pieces, which makes it easy to justify their inclusion in teaching.
Answer
From "Ulysses," the closing line reads: "To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield" — a line so well-known it’s carved on a memorial cross at Cape Evans, Antarctica, honoring Robert Falcon Scott. In "Tithonus," the most quoted line is "Me only cruel immortality / Consumes," capturing the poem's central anguish in just a few words.
Answer
He draws inspiration from Homer but relies more on Dante's interpretation in *Inferno* Canto XXVI, where Ulysses is fueled by an unquenchable thirst for knowledge and experiences beyond the familiar world. Tennyson's Ulysses is restless in a way that Homer's Odysseus, who longs for home, is not.
Answer
The myth dates back to ancient times—Tithonus is mentioned in the Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite and various classical texts. While Tennyson didn't create the myth, his poem is the one that most English-speaking readers come across first, and it has played a significant role in keeping the story alive in popular culture.
Answer
The poem concludes right before departure — the ship is ready, the crew is gathered, and the speech has been given. Tennyson intentionally leaves the actual sailing off the page, adding to the ending's suspended, almost mythic feel. We don’t see whether Ulysses actually sets sail, and that's a deliberate choice.