Write the summary of the poem entitled Ulysses.

Ans.

King Ulysses who has been living in Ithaca with his wife, Penelope and his son, Telemachus for quite sometime, is now tired of his idle life. After all, what good is he doing? He is a king of uncivilized people who cannot appreciate his adventurous spirit. They believe in eating, drinking and whiling away their time but amassing wealth as much as they can. On the other hand, King Ulysses has ever led a hectic life. He has partaken in joys and sorrows of life, alone and in company as well. Even the fiercest weather could not humble his mighty and adventure loving spirit. He has seen many cities, visited many countries and met people with different manners and ways of life. His valour in the War of Troy was recognized by one and all. But still there are many things which he has not seen and experienced. He therefore, feels an urge to make fresh adventures and to gain more and more knowledge. He is not satisfied with his present state of dullness and inactivity. He feels that just to live is not enough. Life is something more than mere breathing. Stagnation is death. Life consists in perpetual action, observation and knowledge. Moreover the major part of his life is over. He has only three more years to live. He must, therefore, make the best use of it. He wishes to engage the rest of his life in pursuit of fresh knowledge and new adventure. He would follow knowledge like a star that sinks in one hemisphere only to rise in the other. In fact, he would acquire more knowledge, even more than can be conceived by the human mind.

As regards the duties of kingship, Ulysses would hand it over to his son. Telemachus. He is quite confident of his son’s wisdom and abilities. Telemachus will slowly and gradually introduce wise measures to civilize his savage subjects and to direct their energies into good and useful channels of action. Telemachus has a spotless character and he takes keen interest in performance of the ordinary duties of life. He is good enough not to neglect his mother to whom he will certainly show kind attention. He is also sincere enough to perform the usual rites and ceremonies to please the household gods when his father is gone.

Having thus settled the affairs of his kingdom, Ulysses is eager for an adventurous voyage. He tells his sailor who have aced dangers together with a free mind and cheerful heart and who have, grown old like him, to set sail with him. Ulysses is of the opinion that even old age must not be spent in idleness or indolence and something must be done to win fame. Death is sure to come and the moment it comes it will put an end to all activity and enterprise but before death comes they can perform some heroic an’ roble deed. Nothing is impossible for them since they are the persons who once opposed and defied gods in the War of Troy.

The day is over. The night is coming. The sea is roaring. Ulysses exhorts his sailors to start the journey forthwith. His aim is to sail beyond the western horizon of the sea. He is determined to continue his journey till the last breath of his life.

Ulysses says that it is quite possible that during their voyage they may get drowned in the sea. On the contrary, there is also the possibility of their reaching the Happy Isles where they would get the opportunity of meeting Achilles. the great Greek hero whom they have known very well and who fought bravely in the Trojan War. People believed in Ulysses’s time that all the virtuous, people after their death, went to dwell in the Happy Isles.

Ulysses admits that he and his friends don’t have their previous strength with which they performed heroic and valiant deeds but they are still proud of what they have. They are still brave and heroic at heart. Old age and unhappy accidents of life have, no doubt, weakened their bodies but they still have willing spirits. Where there’s a will there’s a way. They have the strong determination to struggle, to go in quest of knowledge, to explore and discover new lands and never to bend or surrender to fate.