Ulysses (poem): Symbols

Stars

Ulysses is a man who gazes into the far distance as he dreams of adventure. As the furthest objects in the visible universe, stars represent to him the ideal symbol for aspiration, dedication, and drive. Each of these symbolic virtues are arguably more important to Ulysses than actual, worldly achievement. The speaker indicates as much in lines 30–32, where he first invokes the image of a star:

And this gray spirit yearning in desire
To follow knowledge like a sinking star,
Beyond the utmost bound of human thought.

In these lines, Ulysses explicitly likens knowledge to a distant star. Such a symbolic equation is admittedly a bit clichéd. But Tennyson brings new life to an old idea by specifically describing it as a “sinking star.” Knowledge isn’t just something far away and difficult to grasp. It’s also a moving target, constantly threatening to recede beyond the horizon. The receding action of the sinking star makes it an even more formidable goal—even impossible, since it lies “beyond the utmost bound of human thought.” The implication is that pursuit of the sinking star is more important than actually capturing it. This is why, later in the poem, Ulysses commits himself to following “the western stars,” knowing full well that he likely won’t survive the chase (lines 59–61):

for my purpose holds
To sail beyond the sunset, and the baths
Of all the western stars, until I die.

The Sea

To a man of great physical and intellectual drive, it clearly feels like torture to live an idle and restrictive life. Even worse is to life such a life on an island, surrounded by the constant temptation of the surrounding sea. The sea’s invitation to a life of adventure stands in stark contrast to “barren crag” (line 2) of Ulysses’ island home, which otherwise represents a crushing lack of interest and opportunity. The sea therefore symbolizes an opportunity for escape as well as the promise of discovery and self-renewal. Ulysses reflects the symbolic importance of the sea in lines 19–21, where he offers a glittering description of what it feels like to sail on the ocean:

Yet all experience is an arch wherethro’
Gleams that untravell’d world whose margin fades
Forever and forever when I move.

Though framed within a general metaphor for experience, this description powerfully conjures the sensation of sailing. Ulysses describes the sea as a “gleam[ing] . . . untravell’d world whose margin fades / Forever and forever when I move.” These words reflect the unique visual phenomenon in which the horizon constantly recedes as a ship sails toward it. It is precisely this sensation of moving toward the unknown that has recaptured the speaker’s imagination and now inspires him to set sail once again.

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