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Lory Tennyson's reflective poem, "Ulysses", examines the life through the lens of the Greek hero Odysseus as he navigates his own ineffectiveness and believes that his son will be the better leader to bring his people in to the modern world.
As the poem opens, Odysseus muses about his own idleness and "how dull it is to pause", or stop the adventure of his life. The speaker has settled into the uneventful role as king and feels he has lost his purpose in life. He struggles with filling the role of king and spends nearly "three suns" (years) reflecting on whether he should pass his throne on indicating this is not an easy choice. In stanza two, Odysseus muses about he success of his own son; listing his accomplishments: "blameless", "centered", "tenderness", and "[adored]". As these qualities are listed, Odysseus reinforces that his son would be the better leader as his is not damaged by the violence of war or the wildness of desired adventure. This reflective monologue ends with the Odysseus affirming his choices: "One equal temper of heroic hearts/ Make weak by time and fate, but strong in will". He recognizes that stepping down to his true calling requires one who is humble enough to admit ones faults but also a hero who can stand up to the criticism of others who may feel he has given up. In the second to last line, he notes that he has grown old and may be weak from passing time and that fate waits for him (death) but his experiences have given him the will to endure. With this "will", or desire, he does the most selfless act and passes on his throne to someone who is better suited to meet the needs of his people. This is his mind is his great accomplishment- to put his people before himself.