What is the major theme in this excerpt from "Ulysses" by Alfred, Lord Tennyson?

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

To rust unburnished, not to shine in use!

As though to breathe were life! Life piled on life

Were all too little, and of one to me

Little remains; but every hour is saved

From that eternal silence, something more,

A bringer of new things; and vile it were

For some three suns to store and hoard myself,

And this grey spirit yearning in desire

To follow knowledge like a sinking star,

Beyond the utmost bound of human thought.

A.

the yearning for new experience

B.

the desire for a peaceful life

C.

the desire for material gain

D.

the longing for popularity

Question

Amiyah Hood

English

6 October, 22:27

What is the major theme in this excerpt from "Ulysses" by Alfred, Lord Tennyson?

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

To rust unburnished, not to shine in use!

As though to breathe were life! Life piled on life

Were all too little, and of one to me

Little remains; but every hour is saved

From that eternal silence, something more,

A bringer of new things; and vile it were

For some three suns to store and hoard myself,

And this grey spirit yearning in desire

To follow knowledge like a sinking star,

Beyond the utmost bound of human thought.

A.

the yearning for new experience

B.

the desire for a peaceful life

C.

the desire for material gain

D.

the longing for popularity

+2

Answers (2)

Know the Answer?

Suzy · Answer 1

The writer writes with some philosophical convictions. He states that "life is piled on life" and since life is so short he wants to do "something more". He wants to do new things and gain knowledge. Therefore, the answer to this is A. Yearning for new experience

Dahlia Hanson · Answer 2

Answer:a - the yearning of new experience