Alfred Lord Tennyson is a seminal writer in the Victorian era in English Literature, which is considered to be a period of rapid European "exploration" (although, how can you explore lands that have been previously inhabited by civilizations for thousands of years?)
, ethnographic study (cultural anthropology), and imperial and colonial expansion. It is also a time in which a lot of anxiety arises from the expansion of the empire and questions begin to arise surrounding what it means to be British.Tennyson's poem "Ulysses" is inspired by the ancient Greek epic "The Odyssey" and its eponymous king Odysseus. It is a poem that draws upon the idealization of "empire" that dates back to Greek civilization (and before). Although Tennyson does not reference the British empire explicitly in this poem, some literature scholars consider it to be inspired by the contemporary colonial project in Tennyson's time.
My first question: in general, what was your reaction to Tennyson's "Ulysses?" Did you find it to be personally affective? Did you find it to be a well written? (Be critical if you would like, just tell us why).
My second question: Do you find that the poem is in any way promoting imperialism, or rather does it seem critical? (Cite lines if useful)
I am interested to read your opinions... **Note: You will have until March 15th to complete this post. Have a great spring break! 8-)
Overall I really liked the way Ulysses was written. It flowed very easily and its point was given across clearly. I found it to be affective because it seems like a speech someone would give to those who are about to go into battle or any kind of motivational speech. It had a lot of emotion in it and it felt heartfelt. It also made one feel powerful and somewhat prideful and I think that is was what Tennyson was trying to get across, so therefore I think it was very effective.
ReplyDeleteI think this poem very much supports the idea of imperialism. Even if you just look at the last few lines, “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.” It seems as if Tennyson is talking about conquering and making everything into one empire, and they will not stop until they do it.
At first I thought, “Hey! I’ve read this before!” to my delight. I thought that it was pretty well written and I liked how he related it to The Odyssey. It had a good flow to it and is pretty easy to read. However, the poem may be confusing to someone who has never read The Odyssey before. I don’t find it that personally affective to me, since it relates to a completely different time period and speaks of things in the past, like Kings and immense travelling, which isn’t so common now. For example, in the end he says, “made weak by time and fate, but strong in will To strive, to seek to find, and not to yield”. This shows that Ulysses obviously has issues with settling down and he doesn’t want to be kept in one place, which is uncommon to the time period we live in. Many people like to have a place to be grounded in, that they can call home, rather than roaming the world. But it does convey a lot of emotion, which is pretty powerful. I definitely think that this poem serves to criticize imperialism. Right from the beginning when he says , “an idle king” “barren crags” “matched with an aged wife”, it sounds like he is saying that the kingdom has withered away. Then he concludes the stanza with “Unequal laws unto a savage race” which surely charges corruption within the kingdom since the laws aren’t fair and people are brutal. Ulysses goes on to say “how dull it is to pause, to make an end” so he doesn’t want to settle down in one place, maybe because of the corruption of his kingdom. Regardless of his true intentions with his desires to travel the world, he doesn’t want to be tied down to one corrupt kingdom.
ReplyDeleteAlthough by no means was this poem my favorite we have read so far, it was not an awful experience either. While reading the poem, connections can be made to the text it was based on as well as the time period, and that made reading it much more enjoyable. Tennyson brilliantly related the events and characters of a far older and widely-read text into a new medium and time period. In doing so, he created an entirely new context for both The Odyssey and Ulysses to be read in.
ReplyDeleteThrough this poem, Tennyson seems to be endorsing expansion and increasing the empire through exploration. With such phrases as "For always roaming with a hungry heart" and "Tis not too late to seek a newer world", the author expresses a great desire for the glory and adventure exploration brings. Tennyson exemplifies with this poem the British ideal at the time of creating a majestic, global empire. They could have been striving to create an empire like that of the Ancients, or the Greeks, relating back again to The Odyssey.
Ulysses, I felt was such a short synopsis of Tennyson's desire to explore the unexplored and the important events in his life that it was a bit too general and didn't flow that well. The poem jumped from one idea to the next (zeal for wandering life, short praise to his son, then roaming the seas) very fast. However, personally, the poem did give me the inspiration to explore the world more to get the fullest out of life. I agree with Tennyson that staying in the same place can be boring; going out and reaching beyond our limits is more awarding.
ReplyDeleteI think Tennyson is promoting imperialism. The whole theme to the poem revolves around the outer limits of the world. Constant emphasize was on the rewarding those who explores and not to those who are idle to the rest of the world. He summarizes all together in the last line, “To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield".
I found Ulysses to be well written. I enjoyed reading it. It makes you feel as though you want to go and accomplish something. Ulysses is commenting on how he hates sitting around and would rather be out traveling the world. He pities his son who stays at their home and doesn’t leave. In his monologue, Ulysses glorifies travel and adventure over a mundane life. He makes the audience want to push past the human boundaries in their own life. In addition, he does have imperialistic tendencies in the poem. First of all, Ulysses has a love for travel that he will not relinquish despite his getting older. In line 57 he says that it’s not too late to find new worlds. He knows that he and his men are old, but sitting at home is just not an option for him. In the last line of the poem he does not want to yield to old age or anything else. He wants to continue his maritime adventures and seeking new adventures and new lands to be discovered. He is elevating the importance of adventure in a person’s life and making it appear as a wonderful thing no one should live without. The fact that Ulysses is not content staying home and enjoying what he has and feels a compulsion to explore new worlds shows his imperialistic tendencies.
ReplyDeleteUlysses (Tennyson) writes of traveling, saying that it is exciting to go out and explore the world and in contrast, is boring to stay in one place. He writes, “How dull it is to pause, to make an end, to rust unburnished, not to shine in use.” In addition to himself, in the end of the poem, he encourages his mariners to travel, writing “come, my friends, ‘tis not too late to seek a newer world”. (886) Putting imperialism aside, this poem is very intriguing. I personally, have been bitten by the travel bug recently and found this poem very appealing. I found it well written, only because it was able to affect me and was very persuasive. The one part I disliked was the part about his son, Telemachus, stating that he would be a good leader in Ulysses’ absence. This seemed irrelevant to the whole purpose of the piece.
ReplyDeleteI do not see the poem as promoting imperialism. Tennyson does not write of conquering other cultures, but of exploring and living life to the fullest. In my opinion, Tennyson writes of experiencing all the world has to offer, mysteries and adventures. Tennyson writes of Ulysses’ “gray spirit yearning in desire to follow knowledge like a sinking star, beyond the utmost bound of human thought.” (886) It does not sound like he is looking to impose his government, culture or military on anyone. Perhaps it is because I can relate to a lot of what he says. One quote in particular, the last stanza, he writes that he and his mariners 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." Rather than thinking about imperialism when I read this, I saw it as him giving a peptalk to his men. Encouraging them, that they can still explore and should not yield to old age. Their adventures are not over.
I could just be looking at this as thought it were written today and not in a time when Imperialism was on the rise, so I supposed my point of view could be a bit biased.
My first reaction to the poem Ulysses was that this man was rather self-centered in his own desires to see the world. He gave reasons for why he should leave his island and people, also tries to convince his men why they should continue to explore the world. He leaves behind his son to rule, which he feels could do so rather well and also a wife in pursuit of his own desire to be great to do something great when he says he already has seen much that the world has to offer. It is not personally effective to me for that reason. I do not have such desire to always be searching in life and feel family is much more important to ones happiness than being known for discovering some great land or entity.
ReplyDeleteThis poem I feel though it appears to be promoting imperialism is in fact questioning it. The line ‘Though much is taken, much abides’ is contradictory to the line ‘Much I have seen and known, -cities of men/ And manners, climates, councils, governments,/ Myself no least, but honored of them all.’ If there was much to be taken, why on Ulysses’ adventures has he seemed to encounter so many different cultures? Since Ulysses is still desiring to search after so many years, it is evident he has not encountered anything unexplored or new to humans but instead only new to him. This I feel is important to Tennyson’s key point that exploration and understanding of new cultures is good, but to conquer them is immoral.
I really enjoyed reading Tennyson’s poem, “Ulysses.” I knew beforehand that it referenced The Odyssey and I noticed it more after reading it a second time. He is able to develop and create a more modern story in “Ulysses”, by referencing such an old epic that everyone has heard of. It definitely makes reading “Ulysses” more enjoyable.
ReplyDeleteThrough out the poem, Tennyson definitely references Imperialism. There are points within the text that Tennyson describes the discovery of other lands. At this time period, the British were all about exploring and finding new lands to conquer and I think Tennyson does a great job to develop the British ideal. Tennyson talks about constantly exploring and being rewarded for those who do, which is something you have to do if you want to be a powerful empire. By referencing the Odyssey, an ancient Greek epic, Tennyson could have been portraying how the British wanted to become a great Empire like the ancient Greeks.
I enjoyed reading Tennyson’s poem “Ulysses”. His restless passion for traveling and thinking beyond everyday life is truly inspiring. Even if someone couldn’t identify with him on the traveling aspect, I think everyone can respect his constant need to participate in what he loves. His travels have not only showed him different places, but different people and experiences. The narrator also wants to live life to the fullest, which is something everyone should aspire to do. Although the poem was written over 150 years ago, the messages of the poem in appreciating other people’s cultures, thinking beyond our present lives, and spending our lives by doing what we love are all very true and important today.
ReplyDeleteThe poem seems to have some entwined imperialistic ideas in it. The desire to travel reminds me of empires constantly travelling in order to acquire and conquer new territories. He condemns the king for being idle, perhaps saying to not expand is wrong. While the protagonist is constantly searching for new knowledge, but maybe the reason is to conquer new lands. “Not unbecoming men that strove with gods” reminded me of how imperialistic societies place themselves above other societies. Deciding that they are more powerful and privileged than other cultures justifies the economic and military takeover of imperialism. However, I had trouble choosing if Tennyson was promoting or critiquing imperialism; although I saw examples of him citing imperialism, the phrases did not seem to point definitely in one direction. Additionally, I think this was largely due to the fact that I was not sure if Tennyson identified himself with the protagonist or not.
I liked reading "Ulysses" by Tennyson. I thought it was interesting that the narrator, who has already traveled rather extensively around the world from his travels on the sea to the war he fought, did not want to stay at home and deal with simple domestic life. For himself, his life was traveling the globe and to discover other cultures. I felt the poem was a little hard to understand at times but I still found it very interesting. Throughout the poem, Tennyson does tie in imperialistic ideas. He often talks about the discovery of other lands and conquering them in a way. He goes on to say that the men who discover these lands should be rewarded in a way because they are enhancing the British and their imperialistic ways. Tennyson during this time was a citizen of the British Empire where imperialism was seen as enhancing a country’s powers, which is why I feel like he is for imperialism and writes about it in his poem.
ReplyDeleteThis poem was very enjoyable to me, but I think that this is because I have also previously read The Odyssey. Having read the story that this poem was based on helped me visualize what was going on as an extension of the book. I feel that it might be hard to fully understand and follow this poem if I did not previously have the knowledge of the story it was based on. This information also helped me come to the conclusion that this poem was not about imperialism. Here Ulysses says, “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 forever when I move/ How dull it is to pause, to make an end.” He is speaking of discovering new lands through adventure, but not capitalizing on them. Odysseus, the character that Ulysses is based off, was always traveling and exploring different lands. But ultimately these adventures were part of an extended trip home from war. While visiting these lands he did not try to take them over or rule them, but rather experience them. The character in this poem seems to feel the same way. He also says, “Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will/To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.” Although this poem is about exploration and expansion, it does not show desire to imperialize or colonize anywhere that he goes.
ReplyDeleteTennyson's poem, "Ulysses" is a poem that was very well written and it persuaded me to think that imperialism was not the reason that Tennyson desire to explore and further discover the world. I think that Tennyson used very good analogies to try to explain in further detail what he meant when he was speaking. "How dull is it to pause... not to shine in use". (886) Tennyson was trying to explain that even though he and his men were getting old that there was not sense in rotting away. He knew there was more to be discovered and he figured that instead of wasting away his life, that he would go out and try to find new land and make new discoveries.
ReplyDeleteI don't think that Tennyson was referring to imperialism or referring to conquering other countries or nations when he had the desire to look for new ways. I do not get that kind of tone from the poem. It seems to me that he got motivated as he grew older to keep pushing forward and making new discoveries because if they didn't then they would have no desire for anything. Tennyson desired to keep moving forward and desired new land. He does not talk about crushing and conquering any peoples in his path. He simply talks about, in a sense, become young again... He wants to be encouraged by the thought of exploring again and in no sense does he mean imperialism.
I do agree with Ulysses and his idea that it is boring to stay in one place for a long time to a certain extent. I personally like being comfortable with something and find comfort in routine. I know many people cannot wait to grow up and move out of their hometowns and just live their lives in general but I would rather not rush my life and appreciate it now. It seems silly to never be satisfied with what you have and just always yearn for something more.
ReplyDeleteThe poem does also seem to be promoting imperialism. He wants to explore new lands but I somehow pick up a little arrogance that he believes he deserves to conquer all these new places because he is such a powerful king. This is probably one of the reasons imperialism became so popular at the time. When there is one all-powerful ruler they believe that they are entitled to anything they want, which includes lands already inhabited by other people.
My first reaction to Ulysses by Tennyson was kind of pleasing. It was very easy to read and understand what Tennyson was trying to tell his reader. As one other person said above, it definitely feels as though someone is giving a motivational speech to you in order for you to understand that seeing the world is very important in living your life. “Yet all experience is an arch where through Gleams that untraveled world whose margin fades Forever and forever when I move.” I believe it is this quote that makes his point extremely affective and inspires me to want to go out and experience life outside of my Connecticut bubble.
ReplyDeleteI do believe that this poem is promoting imperialism. It seems as though going out to see the world leaving his scepter to his son is a way for him to conquer other lands. “To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield”. He is definitely giving a sense of imperialism and showing that in order to be successful one must stop at nothing to get there.
To my surprise, I actually enjoyed Tennyson's poem "Ulysses". I felt inspired as he encourages his reader that change is good and that to stay in one place is to rust rather than shine. I think it is important to keep life interesting and to yearn for new experiences. Although Tennyson jumps around in the way he writes "Ulysses", it supports his theory on keeping life interesting and not staying in the same place for too long.
ReplyDeleteThe poem can appear imperialistic in some sense because Tennyson stresses the importance to reach for new things, such as expanding and conquering other territories. Tennyson talks about exploring and being rewarded by doing so, perhaps new territory as the reward.
Ulysses seemed to be a very well written text in which Odysseus seemed to be very self centered, yet persuasive. The text explicitly details his extensive experience in his travels and shows that a domestic life is out of the question. As a reader it seems obvious that Odysseus is not the home-tender type to stay at home and live an ordinary life. Odysseus confirms this when he states, " How dull is it to pause, to make an end".
ReplyDeleteI feel that the piece neither promotes nor obstructs imperialism, but rather has the ideals so well incorporated into the text. Imperialism seems to be the norm of the mentality of the time. Odysseus seems to establish his right as a conquerer. Imperialism seems to fit in as an expectation. “To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield" seems to be the thoughts that cross everyones mind, making imperialism a way of life.
The Odyssey was the tale of a man trying to get home, a man fighting the strange and unusual barbarians in an effort to save his family. The moral of the story was clear; home is the best place on earth, and you should never leave. Odd then, that Tennyson used Odysseus as an example of the imperialist spirit and manifest destiny. I felt the poem was well written. It seemed to have a sort of airy meter that reflected the openness of the sea. The poem also does effect emotionally; it stirs the soul to explore, to see what is on beyond the horizon. The poem keeps its focus on exploration rather than subjection; making it less imperialistic than a piece that simply promotes exploration. The piece, however, seems to implicitly promote imperialism in that it talks about exploration without criticizing imperialism. I would imagine that this piece would place in the hearts of an imperialist England the wish to explore. And, in that sense it promotes imperialism.
ReplyDeleteI read Ulysses after I read the blog post, and all the while I couldn’t help but see the very strong connection. It makes sense which time period he was writing from, when Europe was concurring the world. Tennyson’s whole poem talks about one man wanting to concur as many places as possible, leaving his son to rule one piece of land and he to move on to the next to concur the next. I find that mentality very interesting because even today you see that; for example when small business’ open and do well in one place they hire a manger to maintain that store and they move on to open the next.
ReplyDeleteOver all the read was somewhat difficult but I used the internet for better understanding and found it interesting, the overall feel and mentality of the main “character” was very relatable which made it more enjoyable.
In some ways this poem is promoting imperialism but indirectly. I think this poem is one of the foundations for our society and around the world. People have always been known to concur even if the land already has occupants.
As I look at my classmates' reactions to Ulysses, I find that I agree a lot with what Mindy Lee wrote about its lack of fluency. Personally, I had difficulty following Tennyson's train of thought (if there is actually any tangible train of thought). It's not that he didn't do a good job writing it-I certainly couldn't write anything like that...I just prefer writings that are beautifully simple and easy to understand. However, there were a few lines that I liked by themselves. One particular line that I liked was one that Mindy referenced as well, "How dull it is to pause, to make an end, To rust unburnish’d, not to shine in use! " I didn't feel effected by it the way that Mindy did; I'm not inspired to travel the globe or anything, but I found moderate enjoyment in reading some of it.
ReplyDeleteAs far as imperialism goes, I agree that Tennyson was promoting it. Imperialism has to do with extending a country's power and influence. Tennyson is talking about how he's going to leave to explore new places and put his son Telemachus in power while he's gone. I don't find any lines that point to him specifically saying that he wants to extend the island's power, but I can infer that (as a leader) that's what he wants to do by exploring new horizons.
I, like many other commenters, found the piece an enjoyable read. Using a character like Ulysses provides a great base from which to build the work. A great warrior and explorer who traveled amazing distances, and saw sights few of his contemporaries did. I kind of see this poem as the desire of an old hero who, in the twilight in his life, desires to once again go forth and explore.
ReplyDeleteI also don't see this poem as imperialistic so much as relating to the natural urges of the time to expand the horizons of their world, and fill in the blank spaces of the map. Ulysses sounds like someone who has climbed mount Everest, or found the headwaters of the Amazon River and wishes his son could experience these same wonders.
Maybe this poem resonates with so many people because we all have a bit of that desire to expand our borders, and enlarge our horizons.
I was not a fan of Tennyson's "Ulysses." I found this poem difficult to read and understand. After reading it a few times, I still struggle with the interpretation of this work. To me this does not at all seem to be about imperialism. This seems more like just an old man going on about his life and preparing for death. I do not see the connections to imperialism, although I may be missing something. There are a few references to ruling other people, but there is no positive or negative spin put on it, it is just referenced. To me, it seems as though the second stanza goes through his life, the third stanza is about his son, and the fourth is about his death.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading Ulysses, I think that the poem is definitely artistically appealing in nature, but very intricate at the same time, making it difficult to understand. The poem has, what appears to me, to have a disorganized framework. In terms of the poem making importance reference to imperialism, I don't believe it to have achieved this. I think it is merely a testament that the author is making to his own life and of journeys he has undertaken.
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