Ulysses......by Tennyson......poem summary

Ulysses by Tennyson 

summary

Ulysses......by Tennyson

 Ulysses is a dramatic monologue. A dramatic monologue is a poem, in which a person speaks throughout and the other merely listen to him. Ulysses is one of the masterpieces of Tennyson. it is a fine dramatic monologue and inspires the philosophy of action. In this poem, the poet expresses his boundless desire for infinite knowledge and adventure.This poem was written soon after the death of his friend Arthur Henry Hallam. It gave inspiration to the poet's feelings about the need for going forward and learning the struggle of life. The story of the poem is based on a passage in Dante's 'Inferno' which describes that when Ulysses was sailing from Circe's island for home, the desire for gaining further knowledge and experience of the world came into his mind. This became the theme of the poem.Ulysses was the legendary king of Ithaca in Greece. He was one of the heroes of the Trojan War. The Trojan war was fought between Greece and the Trojans. 

The war continued for ten years and the city of Troy was destroyed.The poem begins with Ulysses's desire for the fresh voyage. He wants to leave Ithaca because He has been living in Ithaca for some time. He is tired of his idle life. He has lived a life of adventure and does not want to rest from travel. He also wants to go on a new voyage to gain more knowledge of the world and the people around him. So he calls his companions to go with him on a new voyage to gain more knowledge of the world. Ulysses,  the great hero tells us that he is sick of his idle life in the rocky island of Ithaca. He says that this type of life has no meaning for him. This island is wild and people are also uncivilized of this island. 

The only eat, sleep and collect money.They have no ideals in life. According to Ulysses to rule over a barren land and uncivilized people is useless for him. He calls his old companions for taking action for a new voyage. He motivates his companions to go a voyage once again. Ulysses wants to enjoy his life to the full. He compares life to a cup of wine. As a man drinks a cup of wine till its last drop, similarly, He will try to taste life full. He has spent his life travelling the world and gained much knowledge and experience of life. It is the memory of these things that inspire him to sails once again. Ulysses has gained much experience of the sea life because he has travelled in the sea with his companions. He has visited various lands, government, people and climates. He went everywhere with the desire of gaining more knowledge. 

Ulysses, the great hero tells us that he is not satisfied with what he has learnt. The knowledge which Ulysses has already gained, enables him to feel that there are still many things to be known. A life spent in idleness is life at all just as a sword loses its polish and gets rusty when It is kept out of use for a long time and the same happens with human beings. Ulysses tells that knowledge is vast and unlimited and our life on earth is too short to learn everything. An hour spent in some useful work means an hour saved from the hands of death. In this poem, Ulysses says that this son Telemachus is quite intelligent to perform the kingly duties and responsibilities.

Ulysses tells his wife Penelope that after his departure from the island his son will pay proper respect to his mother and perform his all duties very well. Now Ulysses calls his companions to go on a new voyage and call them for action. He reminds them that though they have grown old yet old age cannot kill their courage and spirit of adventure. He encourages them saying that old age has its own honor. He believes that even an old man can also perform great deeds. It is not too late to undertake a fresh adventure in searching for more knowledge. 
He wants to go westwards and cross the western horizon where the Sun and the other stars seem to plunge into the sea. This is the appropriate time to start a new voyage to seek a new world of knowledge.  Ulysses knowledge that there is a risk in the way of their new journey. It may be that their ships would be wrecked by the storm or It may be they would reach safely on isles. He further appeals to his sailors to show the same courage as they showed in their young age. Though they have been made weak by time, they have strong willpower to struggle, to seek and to find and not to yield in life.                                         

                             

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"I wandered lonely as a cloud"...Daffodils......poem :summary

"I wandered lonely as a cloud"...Daffodils......poem :summary

 

 The poem 'Daffodils' was written in 1804, inspired by an event on 15th April 1802, in which Wordsworth and his sister Dorothy came across a "long belt of daffodils while travelling in the lake district of England. The poem Daffodils was first published in 1807 in "Poems in Two Volumes". The revised version of this poem came in 1815. the theme of the poem is all about the beauty of nature. Wordsworth is known as a nature lover poet. This poem represents romanticism in English literature. This poem has  Four stanzas of six lines. It makes the entire poem 24 lines long. The rhyme scheme for each stanza is Ababcc, followed by a rhyming couplet cc.  Many figures of speech are used in this poem effectively.

The poem  "Daffodils" expresses the intense feeling of Wordsworth about nature. The poet is a nature poet. This poem is not an imaginative poem . in reality, It is written after the death of his brother John. After the death of his brother, the poet feels loneliness and sadness.

In this poem, the poet compares himself as a wandering cloud. Once the poet passes beside a lake with his sister Dorothy. Then he sees a chain of flowers Daffodils there. He feels inner happiness there and composes this poem to express his happy feelings.

In the first stanza, the poet compares himself as a wandering cloud. he was travelling there without any aim just as a cloud wanders over the hills and valley of the mountainous Lake District in England. Then suddenly the poet saw a chain of daffodils shinning like golden stars. Beside the lake, daffodils are seeming to rest under the trees. The flowers were snickering and dancing in the breeze.

Here the poet uses Simile (the figure of speech) here in the comparing himself with wandering cloud. In Simile words like as or like are used. The poet says that daffodils are great in numbers. They covered a large area of the lake. The poet personifies the flowers by saying them fluttering. They are fluttering like birds and butterflies. These lines express his view that the landscape is covered with hills, valleys lake trees and flowers. and the atmosphere of the lake is breezy. 

In the second paragraph, the poet compares daffodils with the shining stars in the sky. the daffodils are looking golden in colour like shining stars in the sky. They stretched in a continuous line beside the lake just like the stars in a galaxy like the milky way. The comparison of daffodils with stars indicates that the daffodils are heavenly like stars. The flowers were visible like never-ending lines as far as the poet could see them. 

The poet was very much impressed with the beauty of flowers. It gives peace to his mind. The poet overstates the numbers of flowers by saying them " ten thousand saw I at a glance". It shows that the poet has never seen so many flowers at once. He was very much enjoyed to see them in a great number. Poet feels so much happiness to see the dancing flowers in the breeze. Daffodils were tossing their heads like some is dancing with happiness.

In the third paragraph poet lost in the extreme happiness after seeing the beautiful and joyful daffodils dancing in the breeze.  The poet saw the waves dancing in the bay. Waves were dancing and looking joyful at the atmosphere. But the flowers caught the lively waves in their happiness. Poet was really very happy in the company of cheerful daffodils. So he was lost in the beauty of flowers. He was gazing the flowers constantly and enjoying their beauty. He forgot his surroundings while gazing them. 
At that time the poet did not think much about other things but he lost in the company of cheerful daffodils and waves. He realized after a few days that his real wealth that taken from daffodils is the happiness and happy moment which he passed with daffodils. He enjoyed this pleasant memory for a long time since the day. 
In this lines, the poet expresses his feelings related to daffodils after some time. He says that the memory of pleasant daffodils is the real wealth for him. He does not want to forget this beautiful memory in his life. the poet says that whenever he sits on his couch alone in the room in a thoughtful mood that time the daffodils flash upon his inner eye. The imagination of cheerful daffodils came in his mind in the solitude atmosphere. He said that the pleasant sight of the flowers was so important in his life. Whenever he is said these sights give him pleasure. 
The pleasant memory of daffodils has become an important part of the poet's life. It is an everlasting memory for the poet. Whenever he is alone he feels about this memory and calls it a bliss of solitude. And whenever he thinks about daffodils he loses in the pleasant memory of dancing daffodils. 
This shows the poet's intense feelings of happiness after thinking about dancing flowers. This poem is really full of imagination. It attracts the readers very much. It is one of the masterpieces of Wordsworth. This poem has been one of the most read poems in the history of English literature. 
Thus we can say that Wordsworth was a famous nature poet. He fills his reader's minds with his pleasant imagination. The poet was the priest of nature. He feels extreme peace in the lap of nature. This poem is full of natural imaginary.

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The Solitary Reaper by Wordsworth... summary & explanation

The Solitary Reaper by Wordsworth...  summary & explanation

The Solitary Reaper

"The Solitary Reaper" is a famous lyrical poem of Wordsworth. It is romantic in tone. It is a great composition of Wordsworth. This wonderful lyric of Wordsworth was composed in 1803 and published in 1807, When the poet went to his first Scottish tour, with his sister Dorothy and friend Coleridge. During it, he came across a sentence in Thomas Wilkinson's  book entitled "Tour to the British Mountains."There was a description of a girl who was reaping the crop all alone in the field and singing a melodious song. The description of the girl impressing the poet very much. So he composed the present poem based upon that experience of a girl. In this poem, the poet expresses his imagination. The poet sees a highland girl reaping the crop all alone in the field. She is also singing a melodious song herself. There is none beside her. The poet asks his companions not to disturb her. She is cutting the crop and binding the bundles all alone. So the poet requests the passersby to stop there to enjoy her song. If they don't want to hear her song, they should go ahead silently without disturbing her.

She is singing a song full of pain. The deep valley is echoing with her sad song. The poet listens to her melancholy song with interest.  The poet further says that the song of the girl is sweeter than that of the nightingale to the tired travellers in the Oasis of the Arabian deserts. The sound of the reaper is most magical.  Travelling in the Arabian desert, the travellers are awfully tired. No drop of watedo they see. Then if they happen to see some cluster of trees and the sweet song of the nightingale,  their happiness knows no bounds. The sweet song of the girl was more sweet and thrilling than the cuckoo's song heard in the spring season in the silent seas of the Hebrides.

The song of the nightingale is already sweet, but to Wordsworth, the song of the reaper is all the sweeter. He wanted to hear her melodious song many times. Cuckoo's song in the spring season, sung in the far-off Hebrides, disturbing the silence of the calm seas is very thrilling no doubt but that of the reaper is more so. The poet then wanted to know the theme of the reaper's song. Her language he couldn't understand since the language of the reaper's song was a Highland dialect. As there was none to tell him about the theme of the song. Then the poet started guessing about the contents of the song. It could be a sad song about the unhappy incidents or the ancient battles. The poet thinks that if the song is not about battles, maybe It is about a very common subject of everyday life or some personal loss which has taken place recently or may take place in near future.

The solitary reaper's song is so charming that It haunts the poet so much that he wants to know its meaning as well though it's an influence,  without knowing it's substance, is already there. Whatever the subject matter of the melancholy song of the reaper might be, thought the poet, it seemed it would never come to an end. It seemed she would go on singing and singing. She was singing and reaping all alone. The poet listened to her song without disturbing her. When the poet left the place and walked up the hill, her song still vibrated in his heart. Even when the poet could not listen to her song, it still remained there in his heart.

The poem is a lyric successfully expressing intense personal emotions. The meter of the poem is iambic tetrameter in the first three and the last four verses of each stanza. The fourth line of each stanza is an iambic trimeter. The style of the poem is romantic. Wordsworth believes in sensation and wants to convey his ideas in a most delightful way. The poetic imagination is highly romantic. It has presented two beautiful images coloured brightly in the colours of romanticism. Thus this poem is one of the best lyrics of Wordsworth.  Poet has expressed the whole feeling of his heart in this poem.

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