te of negative traits of Ulysses, Tennyson brings respite in the third stanza reminding one of the past glories of this fabled soldier of the Trojan war. With rich usage of symbols and visual imagery, he manages to finally make a connection between the character and the reader . The last stanza is directed to his mariners as also to the readers who after visiting upon all the negative traits of his character realized that he too was human like them . He calls upon them, “souls that have toiled ,and wrought ,and thought with me”(46),immediately connecting them to his struggle. Tennyson uses symbolism all through this last stanza.”The port” symbolizes the final place(44),the “vessel puffs her sail” symbolizes the soul ready to leave. “ there gloom the dark, broad seas”(45) denote the unknown nature of the final journey. Ulysses calls upon his friends to take up the challenge in the face of death and like a true soldier ,to fight till the end. He refuses to give in to the vagaries of old age and extolls the readers to join him in th final battle. “this open invitation to join Ulysses in his last heroic attempt seals the bond between reader and speaker” ( Cleverly) .The hero in us rises to the fore as he implores us with his appeal in line 56-57 “come , my friends .’Tis not too late to seek a newer world”. In lines 60 - 65 Ulysses is not certain where death will take him. “Maybe that the gulf will wash us down”(62) symbolizes the possibility of hell but “Happy Isles” (63) stand for heaven where he feels he will be greeted by his old friends like Achilles .In line 67 Tennyson uses the hyperbolic expression “Moved earth and heaven”,to highlight the legendry strength of Ulysses.”That which we are , we are”,indicate the coming to terms with life or maybe it could even mean the final realization that the soul...
