Ulysses by Alfred Lord Tennyson

💌 Stanza 1

It little profits 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.
I cannot rest from travel: I will drink
Life to the lees: All times I have enjoy’d
Greatly, have suffer’d greatly, both with those 

That loved me, and alone, on shore, and when 

Thro’ scudding drifts the rainy Hyades

Vext the dim sea: 

Explanation: 

• Crags: a rocky piece of land that stands out from the surrounding land. 
• ‘It little profits’- it is useless or it isn't beneficial. 
• Mete: to allot or measure; here, it refers to the king’s allotment of rewards and punishments to his subjects. Dole: to distribute. 
• ‘Unequal’ doesn’t mean here unjust or unfair but variable i.e. marked by diversity, flexible. 
• Ulysses’ people are described as ‘savages’ who do nothing but eat and sleep. 
• ‘I cannot rest from travel’: meaning I cannot take a break from adventure. 
• ‘I will drink life to the lees’: meaning I’ll live life to the fullest. Lees: sediment accumulated at the bottom of a wine bottle. 
• He has had good times and bad times, with loved ones and alone, on the shore and when sailing. 
• Scudding drifts: are pounding showers of rain that one might encounter at sea during a storm . 
• Hyades: group of stars in the constellation Taurus often associated with rain. 
•  Vexed: annoyed, irritated, distressed 

Ithaca's ruler is Ulysses. After a long voyage that included battles, he finally arrived at his own city. He makes an effort to remain in his home realm after his coming. However, his exciting life was not like the life he leads now. He must remain with his wife Penelope and accomplish nothing in this country. He is in charge of looking over and judging the general population. But because Ulysses is constantly going on daring expeditions and battles, nobody really knows him. In comparison to the past life, he believes that this one is a waste. He also laments the fact that everyone is barbaric and merely eats and sleeps.
In lines 6-10, Ulysses determines he cannot rest and must go beyond. Even at his old years, he wants to enjoy an adventurous existence rather than an idle one. That is how he intends to live out his final breath. He recalls the wonderful existence that is full of both pleasures and hardships. He navigated life with the support of his loved ones, but occasionally he had to confront things on his own. He talks about emerging from the storms and barriers over the sea in "Through scudding drifts the rainy Hyades."

💌 Stanza 2

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 honour’d 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;
Yet all experience is an arch wherethro’
Gleams that untravell’d world whose margin fades 

For ever and forever when I move.

Explanation: 

• Hungry heart: insatiable desire
• ‘Myself not least, but honour’d of them all’: meaning I wasn’t treated like the least thing but was honoured by everybody I met. 
• ‘Ringing plains’: the place of battle of Trojan war was ringing because of the armour clashing together in battle. 
• He compares experience with an arch from where the untraveled world is gleaming. The more he travels, the more the margins/edges of the world or ‘arch’ are covered up. 

Ulysses is discussing his own travels and the knowledge he has acquired from them in these lines. He claims that his adventures have given him recognition and name. Additionally, he has encountered cities and their customs, weather patterns, administrations, and councils. He maintains that he is still in need of anything to satisfy his hunger. Having traveled to most regions of the world, he claims to be highly regarded.

In lines 16-20, Ulysses' attention is drawn to his personal experiences of combat. He also recalls his involvement in the Trojan War on the Plains of Troy, and he is happy to see fellow soldiers in combat. He claims to be a part of everyone he has encountered. He is letting him know that there is more to learn even though he claims to have seen. Again, he mentions the unexplored universe in these lines.

💌 Stanza 3

How dull it is to pause, to make an end,
To rust unburnish'd, not to shine in use!
As tho' to breathe were life. 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 gray spirit yearning in desire
To follow knowledge like a sinking star,
Beyond the utmost bound of human thought.

Explanation: 

• Ulysses reiterates how boring it is just sitting around when he could be out exploring the world. It is a lot like that feeling you get when you are just getting into the rhythm of things and have to stop. 
• He compares himself to some kind of metallic instrument that is still perfectly useful and shiny, but just rusts if nobody uses it. 
• ‘As tho’ to breathe were life’: meaning, ‘as if life is just breathing’. For Ulysses, life is not just going through motions but adventures. 
• ‘Life piled on life were all too little’: meaning even multiple lifetimes wouldn’t be enough for him to do all the things he wants. 
• ‘And of one to me little remains’: meaning of his life a little has remained i.e. he is about to die. 
• ‘But every hour is saved from that eternal silence, something more, A bringer of new things’:each hour that he lives, he is saved from death and each such hour brings him new experiences. 
• Three suns: three years; Ulysses says that it is horrid for Ithaca to hoard him for three years. 
• He wants to chase after knowledge and try to catch it as it sinks like a star. Or Ulysses himself could be the sinking star as he is about to die. 
• ‘Beyond the utmost bound of human thought’: knowledge of death is beyond the limit of human understanding. 

At this point, Ulysses starts to consider what he wants to do with the rest of his life. He makes references to the approaching period of his death. More exciting, fresh exploration and enjoyment should be possible in the remaining period. Rather of taking pleasure in the traditional way of life, he recalls that he has already wasted the time he spent in Ithaca.
He refers to himself as having a "gray spirit" to remind us that, despite his advanced age and approaching death, he still has strength of will. These phrases therefore allude to his final thoughts, his remaining life, and his quest for knowledge.

💌 Stanza 4

This is my son, mine own Telemachus,
To whom I leave the scepter and the isle— 

Well-loved of me, discerning to fulfil
This labour, by slow prudence to make mild 

A rugged people, and thro' soft degrees 

Subdue them to the useful and the good. 

Most blameless is he, centred 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.

Explanation: 

• Sceptre: a ceremonial staff that symbolises authority. Here, ‘I leave him in charge’. 
• Slow prudence: he is 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 uncivilised 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: civilise the people in stages and in a nice way. 
• Decent not to fail: smart enough not to fail at doing nice things in offices and paying respect to gods. 
• Meet: appropriate, suitable 

Here, Ulysses discusses his responsibilities as a father. It's evident from reading this piece that even while he feels a spiritual need to go on a new journey, he never forgets what he would be leaving behind. He has delegated his responsibilities to his son Telemachus. He does his “common duties” in a decent manner and is “most blameless”. Therefore, it is impossible to evaluate him as a romantic hero. Something "Greek zeal" was burning within his "Victorian" body. He leaves everything in order before setting out on the final and eternal adventure of his life. He never wants to set a bad example for carelessness as a king in his country.

💌 Stanza 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;
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.

Explanation: 

• Ulysses shifts our attention from his son to the port of Ithaca where he told 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(verb): appearing dark, scowling 
• Thunder and sunshine: good times and bad times 
• With a frolic welcome: gladly (gone through thick and thin) 
• ‘Opposed free hearts, free foreheads’: sailors opposed whatever came in their way and they did it as free men and with a lot of confidence. 
• Ulysses suggests that even though old people are respected, they also have responsibilities. 
• 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 fight with either the Greeks or the Trojans. 
• Ere: before; sonething before the end
• Ulysses observes the sunset and the arrival of night, but it seems like he’s thinking about his own death as well. 
• ‘Lights begin to twinkle from the rocks’: the stars are coming out.
• ‘The deep moans round with many voices’: ghosts or people mourning a death. 

The speaker addresses his fellow soldiers directly in this passage. He and his companions are set to depart from their homeland. The speaker's tone makes it obvious that his buddies are unable to get over their anxiety of retiring to another country. However, he is not interested in traveling by himself. He still requires his friends. Whenever he encountered obstacles, they were there for him. They overcame adversity as a team, thinking as one and sharing a shared goal. He assures them that growing older does not mean that life comes to an end and reminds them of their current circumstances. He says that motion is life and inactivity is death. Regardless of how old or young they are, they are already dead if they decide to stay put or give up exploring and looking for new things.

There is a long way ahead of them all, Ulysses warns his friends. He has no idea what is next. He knows deep down, though, that it's never "too late to seek a newer world." This planet is nothing more than a symbolic metaphor for the enormous ocean of knowledge.

💌 Stanza 6

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.

Tho’ much is taken, much abides; and tho’
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 find, and not to yield.

Explanation: 

• Furrow: the track or mark made in the water by the ship. He tells his sailors to ‘smite’ or strike it, mostly likely with oars. 
• ‘For my purpose holds to sail’: purpose can mean destiny here, or it can mean ‘intend’ as in ‘I intend to sail.’
• ‘Baths of all the western stars’: it refers to the outer ocean or river that the greeks believed surrounded the flat earth, they thought the stars descended into it. Through this, Ulysses wants to convey his desire to sail really far away, beyond the horizon of the known world. 
• Happy isles: the Islands of the blessed, a place where big time greek heroes like Achilles enjoyed perpetual summer after they died. Synonym- heaven. 
• Abides: remains 
• ‘One equal temper of heroic hearts’: they are a team with one heartbeat. 
• ‘Strong in will to strive, to seek to find’: they are strong because of their will to survive; or it can mean- their will to survive is strong. 

Ulysses starts to consider the journey's conclusion from two angles. It's evident from his remarks to the mariners that he has a destination. He claims they might be swallowed by marine cyclones. Another possibility is that they will arrive at joyful isles, which can be assumed as heaven. His goal is to meet his fellow fighter in the Trojan War there. Achilles is the warrior he longs to encounter. Achilles was well-known to every warrior who was sailing at the time. Subsequently, he considers his age and declares that the most of his life is gone. A small portion is still present. Ulysses' earlier statements can assist in drawing the conclusion that he is moving in the direction of his destiny. He acknowledges that they are weak right now, though. Their bodies are weak and they are aged. After they had created chaos in the earth and heavens and engaged in warfare against the will of the gods. But they are no longer as strong as they once were. He goes back to his flashback, where he says the warriors never gave up and fought like one heartbeat. Afterwards, he concedes that fate and time have robbed their vitality and strength, leaving them as they are. Even though their physical strength has decreased, they still have a strong will. At last, the narrator says, they are starting their endless spiritual quest “To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.”

The last few words of the poem are among Tennyson's most well-known pieces of writing. The Victorian desire to go "beyond the sunset, and the baths of all the western stars," to escape the monotonous character of day-to-day existence, and to attain the kind of legendary reputation attained by the ancient heroes, is reflected in the need "to strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield."Ulysses" covers a wide range of significant topics. First and foremost, optimism is the poem's main topic. The poet uses Ulysses as a metaphor to convey the spirit of hope. It seemed like he was too old to carry on with his search for knowledge and adventure. Nevertheless, he persisted. He set out for sea once more, his outlook on life hopeful once more. 

About the author:Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809–1892)

Life and contributions

• Despite having challenging financial conditions at home, Tennyson’s father managed to provide him wide literary education.
• Young Alfred was ahead of his peers, and before his teens he had composed poems in the styles of Alexander Pope, Sir Walter Scott, and John Milton. During his youth he also wrote The Devil and the Lady (a collection of previously unpublished poems published posthumously in 1930), a work that shows a great understanding of Elizabethan dramatic verse. 
• Young Tennyson was very much influenced by Lord Byron.
• Tennyson also collaborated with Frederick andCharles producing Poems by Two Brothers (1826; dated 1827). His contributions (more than half the volume) are mostly in popular styles of the times.
• In 1827, Alfred and Charles joined Frederick at Trinity College, Cambridge. There Alfred made friends with Arthur Hallam, the gifted son of the historian Henry Hallam. This was the deepest friendship of Tennyson’s life. The friends became members of the Apostles, an exclusive undergraduate club of earnest intellectual interests. (Britannica)

Contributions: 

• In 1832, Tennyson published another volume of his poems , including “The Lotos-Eaters,” “The Palace of Art,” and “The Lady of Shalott.”
• In 1833, he wrote “The Two Voices” (of which the original title, significantly, was “Thoughts of a Suicide”), “Ulysses,” “St. Simeon Stylites,” and the first draft of “Morte d’Arthur.” Hallam, too, died in the same year.
• In Memoriam, was written between the years 1833 and 1850 and published anonymously in 1850. Consisting of 131 sections, a prologue, and an epilogue, this chiefly elegiac work examines the different stages of Tennyson’s period of mourning over the death of his close friend Arthur Henry Hallam.
• In 1850, Tennyson was appointed to the position of Poet Laureate.

Tennyson: some other important works

1851- The Eagle 

1862- The Sister's Shame

1855- Maud, and Other Poems 

1867-1879- The Window; or, The Songs of the Wrens (it is a song cycle with music composed by Arthur Sullivan; published in 1871)

1875- Queen Mary: A Drama – a play about Mary I of England
1877- Harold: A Drama - a play about Harold II of England
1877- Montenegro
1878- The Revenge: A Ballad of the Fleet – about the ship Revenge

1880- Ballads and Other Poems 

1884- Becket
1889- Crossing the Bar 

1891- The Foresters – a play about Robin Hood with incidental music by Arthur Sullivan
1892+- Kapiolani (published after his death by Hallam Tennyson)

What is Victorian era (1837-1901)? 

• Victorian era is named after Queen Victoria (1837-1901).
• England was undergoing a huge cultural upheaval; the accepted forms of literature and art experienced a radical change.
• All preconceived notions of British society, from beliefs to attitudes, were challenged.
• In English Literature Romantic Age of Idealism came to an end giving rise to the Victorian era of Realism.
• “A return from solitude to society, from nature to industry, from concepts to issues,from spiritualism to pragmatism, from optimism to agnosticism, from lyricism to criticism ”
• Victorian compromise : It “refers to the contradiction between the progress brought on by the Industrial Revolution, and the poverty, disease, and suffering felt by the working classes as a result of this progress.”

Prevalent thoughts:

Utilitarianism: “the system of thought that states that the best action or decision in a particular situation is the one that brings most advantages to the most people.” (Cambridge).
The powerful force of utilitarian intellectuals, led by J.S. Mill and agnostic scientists like Darwin, Spencer, Huxley, and others, stood in stark contrast to the chain of philosophers that included the religious figures Newman, Arnold, and Ruskin. Even though Jeremy Bentham developed utilitarianism, the Victorian age saw the implementation of the theory. This mechanistic approach to issues of the human spirit had a significant impact on both the state and industry.

Rise of agnosticism: “Agnosticism is the view or belief that the existence of God, of the divine or the supernatural is unknown or unknowable.” The term “agnostic” was coined by T.H. Huxley in 1869 A.D.
People of the Victorian Era sought to explore and understand questions about the metaphysical world, but ultimately found no answers and were left in doubt.

Some Famous writers of Victorian age
• Charles Dickens (1812 – 1870)
• William Makepeace Thackeray (1811 – 1863)
• Brontë sisters: Three Brontë sisters, Charlotte (1816–1855), Emily (1818–1848) and Anne (1820–1849) published significant works in the 1840s.
• George Eliot (1819 – 1880)
• Thomas Hardy (1840 – 1928)
• Alfred Tennyson – (1809- 1892)
• Arthur Conan Doyle – (1859 – 1930)
• H.G. Wells – (1866 – 1946 )
• Matthew Arnold (1822-1888)

Tennyson as a representative of Victorian age

• Tennyson portrays his age fully, not only in bits and pieces. Even in his most personal and subjective moments, he captures the essence of the Victorian era in his poems. Even though he is writing about his own experiences and joys and sorrows, he nevertheless captures the essence of his period and its main traits. The age was distinguished by its refined culture, religious liberalism tempered by skepticism, moderation in politics, and a vibrant enthusiasm in scientific advancement but tempering it with apprehension that it would mislead people attachment to a bygone institution and growing empathy for those in need.
• W. J. Long says: “For nearly half a century Tennyson was not only a man and a poet, he was a voice, the voice of a whole people, expressing in exquisite melody their doubts and their faith, their grieves and their triumphs. As a poet who expresses not so much a personal as a national spirit, he is probably the most representative literary man of the Victorian era.” He also added “Throughout the entire Victorian period Tennyson stood at the summit of poetry in England.” (W. J. Long: English Literature: 457)

Major themes in Tennyson’s poetry

• The Reconciliation of Religion and Science 
• Resilience and optimism.
• The Glory of England
• Some other themes, include: Nature, Grief, time, courage, Spirituality

Ulysses: an introduction

Ulysses was written in 1833 and revised for publication in 1842. The poem was written in memory of Alfred Lord Tennyson’s close friend, Arthur Hallam’s death . In this poem, Tennyson attempts to cope up with the loss. Taking one of the most popular Greek mythical hero– Ulysses (also known as Odysseus) from Homer’s epics, the Iliad, and the Odyssey – and remodels the tale to fit certain themes. Tennyson himself acknowledges: “There is more about myself in "Ulysses," which was written under the sense of loss and that all had gone by, but that still life must be fought out to the end. It was more written with the feeling of his loss upon me than many poems.”

Summary of Ulysses

At the start of the poem, Ulysses has traveled a great distance to return to his home land of Ithaca after serving in the Trojan War. When faced with household life once more, Ulysses displays his discontent, showing no mercy for the "savage race" that he rules. Ulysses muses over his impending mortality and aging process, contrasting his restless present with his heroic past. He also yearns for more wisdom and experience. What Ulysses considers to be an oppressive throne will pass to his son Telemachus. Even though Ulysses believes Telemachus will make a worthy king, he doesn't seem to be connected to either his son or the traditional ways of ruling. In the epilogue, Ulysses addresses the other sailors and asks them to accompany him on an upcoming expedition, albeit he doesn't promise anything. At the end, Ulysses turns to his fellow seafarers and invites them to go on another adventure with him. He doesn't tell them what will happen to them, but he tries to summon their brave history.

Because Ulysses combines many of the defining characteristics of Victorian poetry, including idealism, the struggle between science and Christianity, love of nature, and social concern vs escapism, it can be considered a prototypical Victorian poem. The Victorian era was a time of dynamism and determination. The people living in the age were intoxicated with the intention of expanding knowledge through travels to the furthest extent possible and to acquire more territory to expand the British Empire. Ulysses is filled with a great deal with social awareness. The poem captures the Victorians' vigor and insatiable curiosity and their determination to uncover everything. As Hales puts it, Ulysses personifies "the modern passion for knowledge, for the annexation of new kingdoms of science and thought, for the exploration of its limitless fields."

Ulysses: as a typical Victorian poem

Tennyson, like Robert Browning, is the Victorian poet whose philosophy of life is expressed time and again through his poetry. In Ulysses his philosophy and personality both are seen to be merged. Tennyson himself said that Ulysses, written shortly after his friend’s (Hallam) death (September-1832), gave his “feeling about the need of going forward, and braving the struggle of life, perhaps more simply than anything in In Memoriam (1850)”.

Ulysses (published in 1842) is one of the most popular poems on which Tennyson’s fame rests. The poem embodies “the modern passion for knowledge, for the exploration of its limitless fields, for the annexation of the new kingdom of science and thought”. Ulysses finds the life meaningless while being in the company of his old wife and ruling over the savage people who know him little. He wants to drink life to the full as a typical Victorian would have wished. A life of inactivity is no more than death for the protagonist. It is a life in death. A life of rest from all toils and moils is not desired. He has seen much and known much but is not satisfied with what he gained. 

Another critic notes how the poem captures the essence of Victorian age in addition to representing the personality of Tennyson: “ The high spirit and energy and resolution of Victorian Age are fully celebrated in Ulysses. Ulysses like a typical Victorian is fired with energy to grasp the unattainable and the infinite. With his old mariners he is extremely eager to go out a new voyage in search of undiscovered shores and fresh adventures. The robust vigorousness of Ulysses is expressed again and again. The personality of the poet and the philosophy both are seem to be merged. What the poet feels, expresses through lips of Ulysses. Ulysses’ own idea and ideals, his own thrust for knowledge, his desire to see the unseen, to know the unknown and to touch the untouchable are basically the ideals and desire of the poet.”

 

 Ulysses: major themes:

• The Virtues of Perseverance, resilience and Optimism 
• Mortality and old age
• Exploration and seeking adventure

Ulysses as a dramatic monologue

A dramatic monologue can be distinguished by the following qualities:

• Poetry of this type is spoken in full by one speaker, who is apparently not the poet. 
• This individual speaks to and engages with one or more other individuals, yet we are aware of the audience's existence and response based on the speaker's indications. 
• The unique characteristics of the speaker are the main focus of a dramatic monologue. Tennyson is skilled at writing dramatic monologues, he makes the Greek hero Ulysses the protagonist of this poem. In the poem, Tennyson has made efforts to focus on the adventurous as well as knowledge seeking spirit of Ulysses. However, the philosophy of life given through the mouth of Ulysses is actually Tennyson’s own philosophy as observed by numerous critics.
• A monologue differs from a soliloquy (which also has one speaker) because it is spoken to an audience that is a part of the situation, as opposed to the audience in a theater. 
• A dramatic monologue is identifiable by the fact that it resembles a conversation in which you can only hear one person talking; the speaker seems clearly to be responding to someone, but that person or group doesn't actually speak in the poem.

 

Ulysses: Form and meter

Tennyson uses here the standard meter of English, iambic pentameter in which each line has five iambs, or feet: each iamb contains an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable, as in: "To strive, / to seek, / to find, / and not / to yield".

Even though the poem is mostly in iambic pentameter, Tennyson often uses different types of beats. For example, line 69 begins with a beat that contains two stressed syllables: "Made weak." A beat with two stressed syllables in a row like this is called a spondee. Other examples of spondees occur in lines 44, 45, and 67.

At other times, Tennyson will apply a beat that contains a stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable. It is an opposite of iamb. Eg: "Life to" (7). This is called a trochee.

Tennyson changes the meter of the poem periodically, as it is a dramatic monologue. No one speaks entirely in iambic pentameter, and the changing beats give the poem a more realistic feel, so it seems more like someone is actually speaking.

 

 Literary devices in the poem

1. Trochee: “a foot consisting of one long or stressed syllable followed by one short or unstressed syllable.” Eg: "Life to"

2. Spondee: A beat with two stressed syllables in a row is called a spondee. "Made weak."

3. Consonance: Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line. Eg: the sound of /n/

in “This is my son, mine own Telemachus”.

4. Assonance: Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in the same line. Eg: the sound of /a/ in “The long day wanes: the slow moon climbs: the deep”.

5. Alliteration: Alliteration is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line in quick succession. Eg: the sound of /f/ in “Free hearts, free foreheads—you and I are old”.

6. Enjambment: It is defined as a thought in verse that does not come to an end at a line break; instead, it rolls over to the next line. Eg: 

“And this gray spirit yearning in desire

To follow knowledge like a sinking star,

Beyond the utmost bound of human thought.”

7. Imagery: Imagery is used to make readers perceive things involving their five senses. Eg: “The thunder and the sunshine, and opposed”, “That hoard, and sleep, and feed, and know not me” and “To sail beyond the sunset, and the baths”.

8. Personification: Personification is to give human qualities to an inanimate object. Eg: “For always roaming with a hungry heart”. Here, the heart is personified as if it can experience hunger.

9. Metaphor: Eg: “How dull it is to pause, to make an end; To rust unburnish’d, not to shine in use.” Here, the poet compares himself to a dull and lifeless surface.