Ulysses and Columbus

Much of Tennyson's poetry is elegiac in nature, featuring characters who have been disempowered by isolation, age, or lack of opportunity. One of the most famous examples of this is the dramatic soliloquy, "Ulysses", in which the aging hero visualizes setting forth on another nautical adventure in an effort to recapture the glory of his youth. This poem is considered one of Tennyson's finest works, and was called by T.S. Eliot "the perfect poem." "Columbus", written many years later, is also a dramatic narrative, which has much in common with "Ulysses". In both cases, the narrators are elderly mariners, who have a long history of daring forays into remote regions, and who are eager to venture forth again but are hampered by lack of opportunity and the effects of aging. While "Columbus" is not considered as great a poem as "Ulysses", it contains many fine lines and presents a compelling portrait of the great explorer and his tragic decline. The recording also contains introductions to e