Restless Hearts: A Catholic Reading of Tennyson's "Ulysses"

"How dull it is to pause, to make an end..."

The poem "Ulysses," by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, considers two important and perennial human struggles. Through the character of Ulysses (the Latinized name of Odysseus), Tennyson describes a restlessness for new knowledge and an attempt to escape old age and idleness, both of which themes are familiar to most, if not all, human beings. "Ulysses" makes us wonder, however, whether these pursuits are in fact good. What can Tennyson, through the voice of the aged king of Ithaca, teach us as Catholics about knowledge and escapism?

The beginning of the poem sets a tone of restlessness and urgency. Ulysses, returned from the war at Troy and his years of seafaring adventures, now sits on his throne at Ithaca, "an idle king." It is understandable that a man who has lived a life of war and constant movement finds life at court "idle" and slow. However, Ulysses is not merely restless. He seeks escape.

Ulysses finds himself "matched with an aged wife," stuck in his kingdom dealing laws "unto a savage race, / That hoard, and sleep, and feed," and do not know him. His years of absence have alienated him from his people and even, it appears, from his own wife. But is this enough to merit a longing for escape? Perhaps, but there is more to be considered.

"Yet all experience is an arch wherethrough / Gleams that untraveled world whose margin fades / Forever and forever when I move."

The "untraveled world" Ulysses longs for is one of unknown knowledge. Unseen places that no one has ever discovered. He longs "to follow knowledge like a sinking star, / Beyond the utmost bound of human thought." He seeks escape from his "idle" kingship in a world of hidden knowledge, where no one has ever dared to venture. Once again, it is understandable for such a man to long for a new adventure, a new battle or treasure to seek and find. However, Ulysses has duties to attend to. He has his "aged wife," his kingship, and his son.

Tennyson mentions this son, Telemachus. Ulysses seems to be prepared to pass on his kingly duties to Telemachus, as he is far more suited to matters of state than his father. Telemachus is described as prudent, "blameless," and pious in his adoration of the household gods. Far different from his restless father. If Telemachus is, in fact, prepared to take on the kingly responsibilities, then perhaps Ulysses may have his wish of sailing to a new shore.

"'Tis not too late to seek a newer world."

But is it indeed "not too late"? Ulysses is old. His wife is aged. He has suffered much and seen many battles. Surely it is time to set aside the sword and seek the peace of his latter years? Yet he continues longing "to sail beyond the sunset, and the baths / Of all the western stars," until his own death.

It is not good for man to seek new or hidden knowledge at the expense of his earthly duties. This longing for escape seems to spring from pride, a belief that one is able to do something that is either clearly impossible or in spite of responsibilities that take a higher precedence. Often, we as Catholics may want to escape from various situations. Perhaps we long to run from our duties as students, siblings, children, parents, spouses, or any number of roles we may play in the vast plan of our Creator. Maybe we even long to escape our own religion. 

Sometimes it may seem like our Faith ties us down or holds us back. We become restless and long to escape into the world, when we should really be escaping away from it. Sometimes we may seek to know things that it is best for us not to understand, things "beyond the utmost bound of human thought."

However, God created each of us for a purpose. Wherever we find ourselves, whether adventurers on the sea or "idle kings" left on the shore, we have been put there for a definite reason. We may never know the reason while on this earth, but God knows and will reveal it to us in His time. Instead of searching for knowledge that is beyond our reason and seeking escape that is in opposition to our God-given duties, we should aim "to strive, to seek, to find" Our Lord's calling for our lives, as well as His true peace, and "not to yield" to the seduction of the world's offers of escape.

Tennyson portrays a restlessness and longing for escape familiar to every human being through the character of "Ulysses." As Catholics, we may learn from the Homeric character and the 19th century poet the dangers of seeking and striving for knowledge beyond our bounds. Through our Faith, we know that this restlessness is present in our hearts for a reason: we are constantly seeking true union with our Creator. It is only when we seek and find Him that this longing for a distant shore, for our true home, can be satisfied. As St. Augustine exclaims in his Confessions, "For You made us for Yourself, and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in You." 

(All quotations are from "Ulysses," by Alfred, Lord Tennyson in Immortal Poems of the English Language, edited by Oscar Williams. St. Augustine quotation is from the Confessions, book 1, chapter 1.)