Second: We will be spending Friday on symbolism, chapter six
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Homework: 2/11
First: Work the poem "Ulysses" by Tennyson. Avoid the urge to go to the web and have some "expert" analyze it for you, even though it is difficult. Share your insights here with your colleagues and help one another figure it out. On Friday, bring your typed responses to the questions that follow the poem, as well as a paraphrase of the poem. Also read "Curiosity" by Alastair Reid and answer the questions that follow that poem. By the way, isn't Alastair a great name for a cat?
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18 comments:
I'm having some trouble with Ulysses. Could I get some peer assistance? This is my interpretation.
There is no benefit to be had from staying in one place. Instead I intend to drink up all the life I can. The experiences I have had exploring have sculpted me to be who I am. How boring it is to not be made smooth and shiny by friction! As if the sole purpose of life was to inhale and exhale! The true point of life is to pursue experiences and intellectual growth.
My son Telemachus will inherit the throne when I leave to travel. He has merits and faults but will do fine. He will tend to his duties and I will tend to mine.
These men who have experienced life have scars to show it and are growing old, But have lived valiantly, and it has made their lives worthwhile. I will go on adventures until I die! I encourage you to do the same. It will do you wonders.
Am I completely incorrect? haha
I think your interpretation/ paraphrase is very good and concise. You talked about the main points in each section. That's basically what I got from the three sections. Btw, do you know what the word "meet" means?
P.S.
This assignment takes forever! Now I realized that I did my paraphrase wrong. Arrg!
Sean, you've got a pretty good grip down on the poem
Here's my two cents:
The ever resourceful Odysseus finds that idleness is of "little profit". He has served un-godlike laws unto the Cyclops he tricks into believing his name to be 'Nobody'.
Throughout the poem the speaker, Odysseus, talks of adventures past and his longing for the next one. He will drink the wine of life until it runs out, until there are no more adventures to be had, but he does not wish to "rust unburnished" like unused armor; he seeks a shine like that of Hephaestus' divine armor he won from Ajax after the fall of Achilles.
If he "followed knowledge like a sinking sun" he would never stop! Or at least until he reached the edge of the Hellespont's flat world. "Beyond the utmost bound of human thought". Isn't that death?
Telemachus, his gentle son, Odysseus realized, holds the reins to the future. "To make mild/ A rugged people" Odysseus and his sons overcame the numerous suitors pursuing Penelope, his ever faithful wife.
The endeavor to death begins with a "vessel puff[ing] her sail" and Odysseus sees "There gloom the dark, broad seas" of the life's final frontier. But, he is ever hopeful "'Tis not too late to seek a newer world". The visual images of such a shoving off in a ship to the ends of the world, the ends of life, are enacted beautifully by Tennyson. "To sail beyond the sunset, and the baths/ Of all teh western stars, until I die." And to see great Achilles, a figure who reminds the old man of his former glory.
"We are not now that strength which in old days/ Moved heaven and Earth," in the battles at Troy, "but strong in will/ To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield" to the fear that defines a release from life's adventures.
I think in the context of the poem "meet" means: suitable.
Does anyone understand lines 25-29?
"Mete and dole" both refer to the allocation and dealing out of "unequal"(?) laws "unto a savage race."
The savage race probably refers to the Trojans of Troy whose Prince Paris stole away King Menelaus' wife after a party held in the Trojans's honor in Argos, Greece. Odysseus as a Achaean(Greek) went along as an ally of Menelaus to punish the Trojans for their crime.
Which they did rather brashly and unequally; sacking and sending all Trojan citizens into bondage.
It also probably refers to the Cyclops who ate several of Odysseus' shipmates. Odysseus finally gouges out his eyes, and only escaped from the monster's island by telling Cyclops his name was "nobody" hence the line "That hoard, and sleep, and feed, and know not me"...
This has another meaning in the fact that Odysseus or Ulysses is complaining about his idleness. He no longer "knows" the life he formerly lived. And so he feels as if all he's doing is "sleep[ing], and feed[ing], and know[ing] not me"
He is reluctantly sitting in old age on the throne of Ithaca. He seeks another Odyssey.
Thank you Erik! Also, for question 2 of Ulysses, where in geographical terms does Ulysses intend to sail? I cannot seem to figure this one out.
The pillars of Gibraltar! THE EDGE OF THE WORLD!!!!!! At least in my opinion.
He wants to follow the sunset and the way westward, towards the sunset, goes to the straights of Gibraltar - and the end of the Greeks' known world.
The final frontier: Death..... Assuming epic heroes die when they fall off the edge of the world.
In my research, it seems that the Happy Isles were actually some sort of Garden of Eden for heroes of old. It is the final resting place -- what I think to be death. The book said "Elysian Fields", which when "googled" (sad how that is a verb now...yuck) turns up some small hick town in SW texas. Wiki and various other mythology sites all pointed to the Happy Isles as meaning Eden after death.
The real stumper of all the questions for me was number three after "Curiosity". Relating the poems philosophically can be done, but little else relates.
I remember, which could be a helpful tool for everyone, the discussion that Ms. Minor and I had of how Tennyson characterizes Odysseus/Ulysses. The first paragraph is basically Odysseus internalizing. In the second paragraph, he's speaking of his son to a general audience, his people. And in the third paragraph he's addressing fellow adventurers. So there's basically a three part voice? to this poem. It's pretty clear and explicit but I guess it can help answer question 3.
I thought this poem was good, even though it was kind of difficult. I had a question for you all though. what is the significance of "Hyades" in line 10? I've been trying to figure it out, but can't seem to do so. Right now, all I've got is that Hyades is a star cluster.
Hey Niloy,
The Hyades are a sisterhood of nymphs that were said to be bringers of rain... the line refers to them vexing, or cursing the seas with stormy weather, one of the many trials endured by Ulysses while on one of his adventures.
Does anyone know what "The thunder and the sunshine" represents? (Line 48)
I took it to mean the good and the bad... but not quite sure???
Thundar and sunshine could be Zeus and Apollo, but do not put much faith in that.
Why do I always get a completely different interpretation!!?
:'(
Thanks CaptainSara... Interesting take, hadn't thought of that!
"Life pilled on life were all too little, and of one to me little remains" (Ulysses, 25-26) is very much like the idea of the nine live in the poem Curiosity. It conveys an idea that directly correspond with the metaphor that is present in lines 19-21, where Tennyson talks about the infinite knowledge and opportunitie in life that is waiting for one to explore. The poem encourages use to not sit around and accept change, or else we would "rust" and fade.
Not a lot of people posted on this blog unfortunately, which is a shame because it is a rather difficult poem and very complicated. I struggled with the Greek mythology aspects and the exact location of where Ulysses wants to go, even though in many ways the poem makes me think that he just wants to GO with no real destination and experience life to the fullest extent on a journey for knowledge. I don’t think there is a real set destination but Greek mythology suggests otherwise. I think this poem is a premier example of a “carpe diem” poem but I am a bit confused by the stuff about his son in the second stanza. Does this show some sort of reservation or attachment to life that is separate from his innate intellectual drive?
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