1. Before reading "Ulysses" by Alfred Lord Tennyson, think about what you know about Ulysses. Brainstorm what you know and write them down.
2. "Ulysses" is a dramatic monologue.
"M.H Abrams (an American literary
critic) notes the following three features of the dramatic monologue as
it applies to poetry:
1.
A single person, who is patently not
the poet, utters the speech that makes up the whole of the poem, in a specific
situation at a critical moment […].
2.
This person addresses and interacts
with one or more other people; but we know of the auditors' presence, and what
they say and do, only from clues in the discourse of the single speaker.
3.
The main principle controlling the
poet's choice and formulation of what the lyric speaker says is to reveal to
the reader, in a way that enhances its interest, the speaker's temperament and
character]"
3. How does dramatic monologue affect the poem.
4. What imagery do you find in the poem?
Read the following poem-
"Ulysses
It little profits that an idle king,
By this still hearth, among these barren crags,
Matched with an aged wife, I mete and dole
Unequal laws unto a savage race,
That hoard, and sleep, and feed, and know not me.
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
Vext the dim sea: 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 part of all that I have met;
Yet all experience is an arch where through
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. Life piled on life
Were all to 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 gray spirit yearning in desire
To follow knowledge like a sinking star,
Beyond the utmost bound of human thought.
This is my son, mine own Telemachus,
To whom I leave the scepter and the isle
Well-loved of me, discerning to fulfill
This labour, by slow prudence to make mild
A rugged people, and through soft degrees
Subdue them to the useful and the good.
Most blameless is he, centered in the sphere
Of common duties, decent not to fail
In offices of tenderness, and pay
Meet adoration to my household gods,
When I am gone. He works his work, I mine.
There lies the port; the vessel puffs her sail:
There gloom the dark broad seas. My mariners,
Souls that have toiled, 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 had yet his honour and his toil;
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. 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.
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.
Though much is taken, much abides; and though
We are not now that strength which in the 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 find, and not to yield.
Alfred Lord
Tennyson"
Now, read the following news article and think about how this poem applies to our study of the Olympics:
Olympic Park poetry to inspire athletes and future
communities 3/8/2011
The Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA)
today announced that lines from the poem ‘Ulysses’ by Alfred Lord Tennyson will
be engraved on to a wall in the Olympic Village to not only inspire athletes
competing in 2012, but also future generations of residents and school
children.
The line of Tennyson’s poem Ulysses, was nominated by the public and chosen by a panel which included Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy and author Sebastian Faulks.
Tennyson’s words will be seen daily by the athletes and officials living and working in the Village during the summer of 2012. After the Games, the Village will be converted into new housing with a school, healthcare facilities and parklands and the inscribed wall will be a part of the lasting legacy for residents and the wider community.
Sarah Weir, Head of Arts and Cultural Strategy at the ODA, said: “The panel of judges deliberated the public’s nominations until we whittled it down to the line from Ulysses by Alfred Lord Tennyson. These are words we felt could be an inspiration for the athletes preparing for their Olympic and Paralympic moments in 2012 and equally for the future residents, generations of pupils at the school and all the thousands of visitors to the Olympic Park after the Games.”
Sebastian Coe, LOCOG Chair, said: “Competing at an Olympic and Paralympic Games is the pinnacle of an athlete’s career. We are committed to providing an environment that helps them deliver the performance of a lifetime for London 2012. These poems will not only contribute to the inspiring environment we are creating for the athletes, but also for the generations of families who will live in the Park after the Games.”
The line of Tennyson’s poem Ulysses, was nominated by the public and chosen by a panel which included Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy and author Sebastian Faulks.
Tennyson’s words will be seen daily by the athletes and officials living and working in the Village during the summer of 2012. After the Games, the Village will be converted into new housing with a school, healthcare facilities and parklands and the inscribed wall will be a part of the lasting legacy for residents and the wider community.
Sarah Weir, Head of Arts and Cultural Strategy at the ODA, said: “The panel of judges deliberated the public’s nominations until we whittled it down to the line from Ulysses by Alfred Lord Tennyson. These are words we felt could be an inspiration for the athletes preparing for their Olympic and Paralympic moments in 2012 and equally for the future residents, generations of pupils at the school and all the thousands of visitors to the Olympic Park after the Games.”
Sebastian Coe, LOCOG Chair, said: “Competing at an Olympic and Paralympic Games is the pinnacle of an athlete’s career. We are committed to providing an environment that helps them deliver the performance of a lifetime for London 2012. These poems will not only contribute to the inspiring environment we are creating for the athletes, but also for the generations of families who will live in the Park after the Games.”
Bring in your answers to the questions to class tomorrow so we can review!
(Lesson articles and questions taken from http://www.sharemylesson.com/ResourceDetail.aspx?storyCode=6073073-"Heroic Deeds for the Olympics")
