One of the most famous works of English literature, the standard of Victorian poetry - the poem "Ulysses" by Alfred Tennyson, and today does not lose its relevance from both a poetic and a semantic point of view. What did Tennyson write about this work? What does the word "Ulysses" mean?
The name of the poem
Ulysses is a Latin form named after Odysseus, king of the island of Ithaca from ancient Greek mythology. Tennison's poem "Ulysses" was written on behalf of Odysseus, and therefore named after him - in the form that was more common in Victorian England.
Translation Options
The translation of Alfred Tennyson’s poem Ulysses into Russian by Konstantin Balmont is considered canonical. This translation is very close to the original, literary phrases typical for translations of Victorian literature at the end of the nineteenth century are preserved.
A little benefit is that, the king is idle,
At the hearth, among the barren rocks
I give out, near the withering wife,
Incomplete laws by this wild
What they save, sleep, eat, not knowing me.
I rest from wandering, no, not rest,
I want to drink my life to the bottom ...
But despite the maximum similarity with the English original, today the translation of Balmont is very difficult to understand.
The situation was corrected by Grigory Kruzhkov - although his translation is not literal, it does not distort the original, while being more understandable to the modern reader.
What good is it if I, a worthless king
Barren of these rocks, under a peaceful roof
Aging next to a fading wife
I teach the laws of this dark people? -
He eats and sleeps and hears nothing.
Peace is not for me; i will drain
To a drop the cup of wanderings; I always
Suffered and rejoiced in full measure ...
History of creation
The poem "Ulysses" Tennyson wrote in September 1833 at the age of 24 years. Many believe that by Ulysses, whose last voyage is described in a poem, Alfred Tennyson meant himself, but this is not entirely true. Barely graduated from Cambridge, subject to revolutionary sentiments and dreaming of a better future, Alfred Tennyson could hardly talk about his last voyage.
In August 1833, Tennyson’s best friend and his sister’s fiancé, Arthur Hallem, were killed by an apoplexy strike. The young people became friends in 1829, as a student. Friendship with Arthur greatly influenced Alfred and helped him out of the deep depression associated with his first years of study at Cambridge. Tennyson and Hallem spent a lot of time together, together participated in the revolutionary conspiracy of Spanish politicians, and soon became even closer when Arthur embraced Emily Tennyson. But suddenly the young man is dying. It is not surprising if the poet, who literally deified his friend, after his death, compared Arthur with a mythical hero floating away on his last journey beyond the Achilles heel. Speaking of the need to fight to the end, Alfred Tennyson may have alluded to the suspicion of Hallem's suicide.
The first publication of Tennison's Ulysses took place in 1842. This happened only nine years after writing the poem.
Analysis
Tennison's Ulysses is a poem written in the form of a dramatic monologue. This is a peculiar retelling of an excerpt from Homer's Odyssey about the last journey of the Odyssey-Ulysses, which, in the poet's version, does not go home, but on a new journey to uncharted lands.
Tennyson romanticizes his Odyssey, silent about his cruelty, but endowing with an exaggerated thirst for wanderings and a desire to escape from gray reality. He turns it almost into a peculiar analogue of Byron's Childe-Harold.
Also significant difference is Tennyson's silence about the "rationality", that is, the cunning and intelligence of Odysseus. Homer writes about this, since this is characteristic of a mythological epic, but goes against the image of a romantic hero who Tennyson creates from his Ulysses.
Expressive means
As the writer Anthony Burgess said about the form of the Ulysses poem by Tennyson , this is a "strict and refined monologue written in white verse." In addition to the lack of rhyme, Tennyson’s white verse is also devoid of strict size - changing the length of phrases and placing stresses in the performance of the poet turns into a special means of artistic expression. The first half of the poem, describing the boring life in Ithaca, measured and calm, expresses the leisurely speech and thoughts of Ulysses. But when he begins to remember the exploits and adventures, the rhythm of the verse goes astray, and speech ceases to be measured - in this moment the reader seems to feel how the heartbeat of Odysseus has increased.
The use of deliberately long phrases in the poem is also an expressive means - complex and complex sentences emphasize the natural flow of thoughts of the lyrical hero. The last lines: "Dare, seek, find and not give up!" accelerate the rhythm due to the transfer, and it becomes clear - Ulysses and his sailors went on a journey.
Influence and mention in other works
Alfred Tennyson’s poem "Ulysses" became a textbook: it was studied in English schools of the 19-20th century (it is still studied in many). Many literary scholars call the work the standard of romantic poetry of the Victorian era. The thirst for knowledge, wandering and gaining new experience, which sounded from the lips of Ulysses, was in tune with the imperialist ideology of Great Britain, propagandizing the expansion of British borders to the most remote places on the planet.
Most popular is the last line of the poem: “Dare, seek, find and not give up!”, Which has become popular: it is the motto of many educational institutions in the UK and some other countries. In 2012, she was chosen as the motto of the London Olympics. Also, the phrase was used in the epigraphs for the novels “Two Captains” by Kaverin and “Ship of His Majesty” Maclean. In cinema, it was used in films such as 007: Skyfall, Dead Poets Society, and One Week.