Ulysses Departing

Quiz — Ulysses Departing by Alfred, Lord Tennyson

1. Recall – Form & Speaker: Who is the speaker of Ulysses Departing, and what is his situation at the opening of the poem?

1. Recall – Key Image: What does the quiet hearth symbolize in the poem, and why does the speaker find it suffocating rather than comforting?

1. Recall – Key Image: What does the image of the rusting sword represent, and what broader argument does it support?

1. Comprehension – Character Relationship: How does Ulysses regard his son Telemachus, and how does his attitude toward Telemachus differ from his attitude toward himself?

1. Comprehension – Philosophy: The poem presents a personal philosophy of experience captured in the idea of "drinking life to the lees." What does this philosophy mean, and how does it drive Ulysses's decision to set sail?

1. Analysis – Symbol: What does the sinking star symbolize in the poem, and what does Ulysses's choice to pursue it reveal about his view of ambition and knowledge?

1. Analysis – Tone: How would you describe the tone of Ulysses Departing? How does the coexistence of defiance, melancholy, and fatigue create the poem's distinctive emotional intensity?

1. Analysis – Theme: How does the poem engage with the theme of mortality? In what way does the reference to the Happy Isles deepen or complicate Ulysses's stated motivation for the journey?

1. Analysis – Context: Tennyson composed this poem shortly after the death of his close friend Arthur Henry Hallam. How does this biographical context illuminate the poem's themes of grief, perseverance, and the refusal to stop striving?

1. Evaluation – Broader Significance: The poem was published during the Victorian era's debates about progress and the meaningful life. In what ways does Ulysses serve as a symbol for Victorian ideals of ambition, self-determination, and honour — and where might his example also be seen as troubling or self-serving?

Answer Key

1. The speaker is Ulysses, the aging king of Ithaca. At the poem's opening, he feels restless and purposeless at home: his kingdom feels desolate, his wife has aged, and the people he rules seem beneath his understanding of the world.

1. The hearth symbolizes domestic routine, comfort, and stagnation. For Ulysses, it represents everything that is slowly suffocating him — a life of staying still rather than striving.

1. The rusting sword symbolizes wasted potential: a blade only stays bright through use, just as a life only remains vibrant through active engagement. It supports Ulysses's argument that inaction is a kind of decay.

1. Ulysses speaks of Telemachus with genuine warmth and admiration for his patience, prudence, and sense of duty. However, he maintains a certain emotional distance, recognizing that Telemachus is suited to the settled work of governance — the opposite of Ulysses's own restless nature.

1. The philosophy means embracing every experience fully and leaving nothing behind — joy, suffering, companionship, solitude. It drives his decision to sail because remaining in Ithaca would mean abandoning that philosophy; a meaningful life for Ulysses requires constant forward motion.

1. The sinking star represents the pursuit of knowledge and experience that can never be fully attained. Chasing it reveals that for Ulysses, the value of ambition lies in the striving itself — the journey matters more than any final destination.

1. The tone is restless and defiant, with an underlying current of melancholy and fatigue. Ulysses is clear-eyed about his age and the possibility of death, yet refuses to be subdued. This blend gives the poem a unique emotional intensity: neither purely triumphant nor defeated, but stubbornly determined.

1. Ulysses openly acknowledges his age and the likelihood that this final voyage may end in death. The reference to the Happy Isles — the heroic afterlife of Greek myth — subtly suggests that dying on the journey is acceptable or even fitting, complicating his stated quest for adventure by hinting at a readiness for death.

1. Written days after Hallam's sudden death, the poem reflects Tennyson's own need to keep moving despite overwhelming grief. Ulysses's defiant refusal to stop becomes a vehicle for processing loss — the poem argues that the only response to mortality and sorrow is to press forward and continue striving.

1. Ulysses embodies Victorian values of progress, self-improvement, ambition, and honour — qualities celebrated in an era of exploration and empire. However, his example can also be seen as troubling: he abandons his duties as king and husband, arguably placing personal fulfillment above responsibility to others, raising questions about the cost of relentless ambition.