Resumo de Aging With Grace In Ulysses

To Alfred Lord Tennyson the subject of aging was worthy to be considered; he devotes a whole poem to the subject in Ulysses.
In the poem, King Ulysses (who is the Greek king Odysseus) expresses his thoughts and feelings about the situation that he finds himself in maturity. He is unhappy; he feels useless and unappreciated. He suffers from frustration and an antipathy with his subjects; he is a ruler of a people who are like brute beasts. They possess no higher aspirations than to satisfy their base needs and desires. Unlike Ulysses, they have no interest in pursuing nobler goals of wisdom and adventure. Therefore, they cannot identify with him. He even feels unequally matched with his wife, wh seems content to sit by the fire and do nothing. Most men might envy Ulysses in his position as king and lord, being served in his old age but serving none. But Ulysses is restless and declares that he will live life to the fullest up until the end. He does not wish to live the rest of his life with people with whom he feels no affinity to.
Like most old men, Ulysses remembers his life. He remembers well his passions and his sufferings and the people with whom he shared these experiences. He ponders his lifelong accomplishments: the sea voyages that he has undertaken, the victories that he has won and the fame that he has acquired. Ulysses revels in the knowledge that he has influenced peoples and governments in which he has come in contact, that he has been honored by many and that through it all, he was led by a heartfelt thirst for wisdom and knowledge. Even with all of these memories, there is yet that one last great adventure to experience that beckons to him. The sea calls to him like a siren that entices a sailor at sea. He declares that it is wretched to end one?s life in dullness and boredom, that one is not really alive until one experiences life to its fullness right up until the last moment of breath. Ulysses states that he is loath to remain in a sedentary life without excitement. He acknowledges that he is old but still has a desire to explore the world.
And so Ulysses prepares for his last great odyssey, indeed, he has already prepared a king to rule his kingdom. He leaves his land with ease and peace, knowing that his son will rule the people well, maybe even better than himself, for he knows that his son is better suited for the job by his temperament.
As Ulysses looks out to port, he sees the ship ready to sail. His old faithful shipmates, who have shared with Ulysses many a seafaring adventure, are with him. They are like himself; they share a kinship of spirit and they are willing to embark on that one last great adventure. Tennyson ends the poem elegantly by having Ulysses express his philosophy and that of his fellow mariners concerning the manner in which they wish to live until the end: to keep a strong heart and will, to continue to seek and find answers to the world and not to yield to the weakness of old age. Ulysses states this beautifully: "I cannot rest from travel, I will d rink life to the lees."
Tennyson?s Ulysses is one of the most important poems dealing with old age ever written. His use of metaphor and simile punctuates the necessity of living life to the fullest, right up until the end. The beauty and honesty that is expressed in the poem is a tribute to the importance of the subject of aging. However, it also speaks about life in general. It expresses the thought that old age should still be an age of adventure; that one should not surrender yearning for the fulfillment of dreams unmet. It is a timeless message for all.

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