How does Tennyson use structure to create a compelling narrative in ‘Ulysses’?

Tennyson’s poem ‘Ulysses’ tells a compelling story. An old hero, stuck in a mundane existence, reflects on his past, ultimately deciding to strive on and make the most of life until the end. The key to this narrative is the way Tennyson uses structure to explore the central character, Ulysses.Structurally, the poem lacks stanzas or rhyme, and is written in iambic pentameter, reflecting normal speaking patterns. This, combined with its use of first person voice, creates a monologue that is essentially a stream of consciousness. The reader is struck by a sense of intimacy, and so the structure creates the space for the psychological battle that is at the heart of ‘Ulysses’ to play out. The lack of stanzas also mirror the lack of movement within the poem. Despite Ulysses’ meditative imagination carrying the reader from ‘the ringing plains of windy Troy’ to the Happy Isles’, the structure, and the perpetual return to Ulysses’ current location in Ithaca, keeps the reader reminded of the difficulty in overcoming his static situation. Therefore, structure serves a dual purpose: it sets the scene of the poem as primarily psychological; and it magnifies the difficulty of the internal struggle Ulysses faces.