HOW DOES TENNYSON TELL THE STORY IN
HOW DOES TENNYSON TELL THE STORY IN ‘ULYSSES’?
‘Ulysses’ is written in the form of a dramatic monologue. This form strongly involves the reader with no sense of distancing. Instead, the reader feels as if they are one of his “mariners” in the story who have “toil’d, and wrought, and thought” with him.
The poem opens with the voice of Ulysses perturbed by his “dull” life. The choice of the apathetic word, “idle” in the opening line, immediately creates a sense of his tedious role in which nothing of merit has been achieved. Tennyson uses language such as “barren” to create a sense of futility, with no hope of transforming this “savage race”. In the sixth line, the voice of Ulysses says he “cannot rest”. Tennyson crafts his punctuation to reflect this: the caesura in the middle of this line reflects his inner turmoil and restlessness in the story.
‘Ulysses’ is written in the form of a dramatic monologue. This form strongly involves the reader with no sense of distancing. Instead, the reader feels as if they are one of his “mariners” in the story who have “toil’d, and wrought, and thought” with him.
The poem opens with the voice of Ulysses perturbed by his “dull” life. The choice of the apathetic word, “idle” in the opening line, immediately creates a sense of his tedious role in which nothing of merit has been achieved. Tennyson uses language such as “barren” to create a sense of futility, with no hope of transforming this “savage race”. In the sixth line, the voice of Ulysses says he “cannot rest”. Tennyson crafts his punctuation to reflect this: the caesura in the middle of this line reflects his inner turmoil and restlessness in the story.