Ambiguity in Tennyson's "Ulysses"

Alfred Lord Tennyson famously remarked, "There is more about myself in 'Ulysses,' which was written under the sense of loss...but that still life must be fought out to the end." While the poem does express the benign aspects of the heroic condition, there is a definite undercurrent that complicates that view.

The situation in "Ulysses" is borrowed from Dante's Commedia. Ulysses convinces his men to leave hearth and home behind once more to sail beyond the Pillars of Hercules into unknown waters. On one hand, the Greek hero is striving for more than just enough, to just "hoard, and sleep, and feed." He embodies the impulse for discovery and achievement.

However, the text contains elements that point to a less favorable view of Ulysses' impulse. For example, the image of "lights [which] begin to twinkle from the rocks," paired with Ulysses' exhortation to "follow knowledge like a sinking star," suggests a disastrous outcome for the mariners. Another problematic element is the echo of Milton's Satan in Ulysses' purpose, to "strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield." Interestingly, in Dante's earlier version of this voyage, the crew keep a course "to the left," indicating the root meaning of "sinister."

Harold Bloom has commented, "Tennyson is the most extreme instance I know of the imagination going one way, and the will going quite another." The ambiguity in Tennyson's verse no doubt contributes to the lasting acclaim bestowed on the work. Remarkably, despite his death in 1892, the poet can be found on YouTube, reading "Ulysses."