Friday, July 10, 2009

What is the attitude expressed toward life and death in Tennyson's "Ulysses?"

is old,
world-weary, and coming to the end of a long, illustrious life. Far from enjoying his twilight
years, however, he's feeling thoroughly bored and miserable. It's a huge comedown for a
legendary hero and warrior to spend all his time at home with his wife, dealing with the tedious
minutiae of governing Ithaca. He longs for those golden days of youth when he regularly took to
the high seas in search of glory and adventure. Ulysses has always been a man of action, so any
prolonged period of enforced idleness must feel like hell on earth.

Ulysses's
general mood, then, is one of boredom, but he's also defiant. He still has enough of the old vim
and vigor within him to contemplate heading back out to sea and exploring new worlds. He knows
that he doesn't have long to live, but he's determined to make the most of his few remaining
years upon this earth. Above all, that means keeping his mind and body active, which is good
advice for anyone approaching the sunset of their lives.

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