ULYSSES line wise summary/analysi
Lines 1-
It little pro ts that an idle king,
By this still hearth, among these barren crags,
Match'd with an aged wife, I mete and dole
Unequal laws unto a savage race,
That hoard, and sleep, and feed, and know not me.
• The poem begins by telling us that a king gains nothing from
just sitting around by the re with his wife and making laws for
people who don't even know him
• The speaker at rst seems at to be some kind of observer or
impersonal gure who knows a lot about how to be a king, but
in line 3 we learn that the king himself, Ulysses, is speaking
• The phrase "it little pro ts" is another way of saying, "it is
useless" or "it isn't bene cial.
• "Mete" means "to allot" or "measure out." Here it refers to the
king's allotment of rewards and punishments to his subjects
• "Unequal" doesn't mean that the rewards and punishments are
unjust or unfair, but rather variable
• "Match'd" doesn't refer to a tennis match or other sporting
event; it means something like "paired" or "partnered with.
• Ulysses' subjects are presented to us as a large group of
drones who do nothing but eat and sleep
Lines 6-1
I cannot rest from travel: I will drink
Life to the lees: all times I have enjoyed
Greatly, have suffered greatly, both with those
That loved me, and alone; on shore, and when
Through scudding drifts the rainy Hyades
Vexed the dim sea
• After his moralistic opening, Ulysses tells us more about why
sitting around doling out rewards and punishments bores him
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• We learn that he is a restless spirit who doesn't want to take a
break from roaming the ocean in search of adventure. He will
not let life pass him by
• The word "lees" originally referred to the sediment
accumulated at the bottom of a bottle of wine; to "drink life to
the lees" means to drink to the very last drop. Nowadays we
might say something like "live life to the fullest.
• Ulysses tells us that he has had a lot of good times and a lot of
bad times, sometimes with his best friends, and sometimes
alone, both on dry land and while sailing through potentially
destructive storms
• "Scudding drifts" are pounding showers of rain that one might
encounter at sea during a storm or while crab shing off the
coast of Alaska
• The "Hyades" are a group of stars in the constellation Taurus
often associated with rain; their rising in the sky generally
coincides with the rainy season. Here they are presented as
agitators of the ocean
Lines 11-1
…I am become a name;
For always roaming with a hungry heart
Much have I seen and known – cities of men
And manners, climates, councils, governments,
Myself not least, but honoured of them all –
And drunk delight of battle with my peers,
Far on the ringing plains of windy Troy,
I am a part of all that I have met;
• Ulysses elaborates on the good times and bad times – well,
mostly the good times – he's enjoyed during his travels
• The phrase "I am become a name" means something like
"become a household name." Ulysses has become famous
because he's traveled to so many places
• Ulysses tells us that he's visited a variety of different places,
with different manners, weather, governments, etc. He portrays
himself as a Renaissance traveler of sorts with an insatiable
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desire ("hungry heart") to see as many places as he can, try as
many foods as he can, etc
• The phrase "myself not least, but honoured of them all" is a
little tricky. It means something like "I wasn't treated like the
least little thing but was honored by everybody I met.
• Ulysses also describes the time he spent "on the ringing plains
of windy Troy," the famous city where the Trojan War took
place: you know, that famous war dramatized in the Brad Pitt
movie Troy? The "plains" are "ringing" because of the armor
clashing together in battle
• "I am a part of all that I have met" is a strange phrase. Usually
we say something like "all the places I have seen are now a
part of me." The phrase suggests that Ulysses left parts of
himself everywhere he went; this sounds like another way of
saying "I don't belong here in Ithaca.
Lines 19-2
Yet all experience is an arch wherethrough
Gleams that untravelled world, whose margin fades
For ever and for ever when I move.
How dull it is to pause, to make an end,
To rust unburnished, not to shine in use!
As though to breathe were life!
• Ulysses further justi es his desire to keep traveling and living a
life of adventure
• He compares his life or experiences to an arch and describes
the "untravelled world" as a place that "gleams" at him through
that arch. All he has to do is walk through the arch
• The rst two lines of the passage are very tricky, and we're not
entirely sure what they mean. One way to read "Untravelled
world" is as a reference to death; it is always looking at him
through the "arch" of his experiences, but somehow seems to
recede ("margin fades") as he keeps moving
• You could also think of the "Untravelled world" as an arch. As
Ulysses moves, his experiences make an arch covering the
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arch of the "Untravelled world." The more he travels, the more
the margins or edges of that world recede or are covered up
• Ulysses reiterates how boring it is just sitting around when he
could be out exploring the world. It's a lot like that feeling you
get when you're just getting into the rhythm of things and have
to stop
• He likens himself to some kind of metallic instrument that is
still perfectly useful and shiny but just rusts if nobody uses it,
like that ancient bicycle in your garage. If Ulysses weren't a
soldier, he might say he's just collecting dust
• For Ulysses, life is about more than just "breathing" and going
through the motions; it's about adventure
Lines 24-3
…Life piled on life
Were all too little, and of one to me
Little remains: but every hour is saved
From that eternal silence, something more,
A bringer of new things; and vile it were
For some three suns to store and hoard myself,
And this grey spirit yearning in desire
To follow knowledge like a sinking star,
Beyond the utmost bound of human thought
• Ulysses continues to a radiate a desire for adventure, claiming
that even multiple lifetimes wouldn't be enough for him to do all
the things he wants
• At this point, though, he's an old man – a "grey spirit" – near
the end of his life, and he wants to make the most of what's
left. It's a waste of time for him to hang out in Ithaca for three
years when his desire for adventure is still so alive
• The phrase "but every hour is saved / From that eternal
silence, something more, / A bringer of new things" is strange.
It means something like "each additional hour that I live, or
each hour that I am saved from death, brings me new
experiences.
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• "Three suns" doesn't mean three days, but rather three years.
Ulysses has apparently been wasting his time for quite a while
• The phrase "follow knowledge like a sinking star" is
ambiguous. On the one hand, Ulysses wants to chase after
knowledge and try to catch it as it sinks like a star. On the
other hand, Ulysses himself could be the "sinking star." That
makes sense too; he is a great personality who is moving
closer to death (though, in our opinion, he's also kind of a rock
star)
Lines 33-3
This is my son, mine own Telemachus,
To whom I leave the sceptre and the isle –
Well-loved of me, discerning to ful l
This labour, by slow prudence to make mild
A rugged people, and through soft degrees
Subdue them to the useful and the good
• Ulysses introduces us to his son and heir, Telemachus, who
seems like the right guy to take over the job of King of Ithaca.
He's smart, and he knows how to make his people do things
without being too harsh about it
• A "Sceptre" is a ceremonial staff that symbolizes authority.
Ulysses means something like "I leave him in charge.
• When compared with Ulysses, Telemachus seems a lot less
restless. He has "slow prudence," meaning he's patient and
willing to make the best decision for the people of Ithaca
without being too hasty
• The people of Ithaca are "rugged," which means that they're a
little uncivilized and uncultured. They're like country-bumpkins
with a little bit of an attitude. That's why they need to be
reigned in ("subdued," made "mild") and put to good use
• "Soft degrees" implies that Telemachus will civilize the citizens
of Ithaca in stages and in a nice way; it's kingship as
constructive criticism
Lines 39-4
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Most blameless is he, centred in the sphere
Of common duties, decent not to fail
In of ces of tenderness, and pay
Meet adoration to my household gods,
When I am gone. He works his work, I mine.
• Ulysses tells us more about Telemachus' quali cations; he's a
straight shooter all the way, a nice guy
• "Decent not to fail" means that Telemachus is smart enough
not to fail at doing nice things for people and paying the proper
respects to the gods
• "Meet" means "appropriate" or "suitable.
• We're not sure whether "when I am gone" means that Ulysses
is planning on going back to sea for some more adventures, or
if he's thinking about his own death
Lines 44-5
There lies the port; the vessel puffs her sail:
There gloom the dark broad seas. My mariners,
Souls that have toil'd, and wrought, and thought with me –
That ever with a frolic welcome took
The thunder and the sunshine, and opposed
Free hearts, free foreheads – you and I are old;
Old age hath yet his honour and his toil;
• Ulysses shifts our attention from his son to the port of Ithaca,
where he tells us a ship is preparing to set sail. Looks like he's
planning on skipping town after all, and with his old friends as
well
• "Gloom" is usually a noun but here it's a verb that means
"appearing dark" or "scowling.
• "Thunder and sunshine" is used here to mean something like
"good times and bad times." They have gladly ("with a frolic
welcome") gone through thick and thin for Ulysses
• The phrase "opposed / Free hearts, free foreheads" is a little
tricky. Ulysses means that his sailors "opposed" whatever
came in their way – "thunder," for example – and they did it as
free men and with a lot of con dence ("free foreheads")
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• While at rst it seems as though Ulysses has just been musing
to himself, it turns out he's speaking to someone. We don't
know whom he's talking to, but the other person is an old man
• Speaking of old age, Ulysses suggests that even though old
people are respected, they also have responsibilities
Lines 51-5
Death closes all: but something ere the end,
Some work of noble note, may yet be done,
Not unbecoming men that strove with Gods.
The lights begin to twinkle from the rocks:
The long day wanes: the slow moon climbs: the deep
Moans round with many voices.
• Ulysses knows that death will end everything, but he still
believes he can do great things, things worthy of men who
fought against the will of the gods during the Trojan War
• The Trojan War wasn't a war between men and gods, but
occasionally the gods would come down and ght with either
the Greeks or the Trojans
• "Ere" is an old poetic word that means "before," as in "I will
come ere nightfall.
• Ulysses observes the sunset and the arrival of night, but it
seems like he's thinking about his own death as well. What's
with the moaning? It reminds us of ghosts or people mourning
a death
• "Lights begin to twinkle from the rocks" is an elegant way of
saying the stars are coming out
Lines 56-6
…Come, my friends,
'Tis not too late to seek a newer world.
Push off, and sitting well in order smite
The sounding furrows; for my purpose holds
To sail beyond the sunset, and the baths
Of all the western stars, until I die.
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It may be that the gulfs will wash us down:
It may be we shall touch the Happy Isles,
And see the great Achilles, whom we knew
• It turns out that Ulysses is addressing his friends, at least
during this part of the poem. He tells them what he's been
telling us all along: it's never too late to go in search of new
lands
• Here a "furrow" refers to the track or mark made in the water
by the ship. He tells his sailors to "smite" or strike it, most likely
with oars
• "Purpose" can mean two different things; it can mean either
"destiny," as in "sailing is my purpose in life," or it can mean
"intention," as in "I intend to sail as far as I can.
• The "baths / Of all the western stars" isn't a place where the
stars go to bathe themselves. It refers to the outer ocean or
river that the Greeks believed surrounded the ( at) earth; they
thought the stars descended into it
• To sail beyond the "baths" means Ulysses wants to sail really,
really far away – beyond the horizon of the known universe –
until he dies
• The "happy isles" refers to the Islands of the Blessed, a place
where big-time Greek heroes like Achilles enjoyed perpetual
summer after they died. We might say Heaven
• Ulysses realizes that he and his companions might die, but
he's OK with that. If they die, they might even get to go to the
"Happy Isles" and visit their old pal Achilles
Lines 65-7
Tho' much is taken, much abides; and though
We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven; that which we are, we are;
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to nd, and not to yield.
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• Ulysses yet again tells us that even though he and his sailors
are old and don't have a lot of gas left in the tank, there's
enough left to go a little farther
• "Abides" is a word that means "remains.
• These guys are a team with one heartbeat. They're old and
broken, but they still have the will to seek out and face
challenges without giving up. They can't bench-press 200
pounds anymore, but that won't stop them from trying anyway
• The phrase "strong in will / To strive, to seek, to nd, and not
yield" means something like "we're strong because of our will
to strive" or "our will to strive is strong."
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