Retirement vs. Strife in Old Age Essay Example for Free

Retirement vs. Strife in Old Age striveA man that spends many years in active service be it for himself or for a more noble reason such as his country or people, would more certainly than non find retirement a disorienting prospect once he faces it. Retirement means lemniscus whatever has kept one alive and working for most of his healthy years. It means realigning his goals, getting used to other, more leisurely and less strenuous habits as befitting old age, and preparing to face death with peace and resignation. In Lord Alfred Tennysons poem Ulysses, the mythical hero of Homers epics expresses his anxiety intimately coming back home to Ithaca to reclaim his old responsibilities as king after years of traveling overseas and fighting the Trojan war, and his desire of set about a new adventure, instead. The poem begins with Ulysses dreading his return to resume the job of an idle king (Tennyson 1). He could not imagine the relevance of staying home with an aged wife (Tennys on 3) and to mete and dole (Tennyson 4) rewards or punishments to the people he governsmost of whom he does not know nor they of him but for his position as king.Ulysses does not standardised his causality life of idleness and monotony even if it was a life of comfort and wealth. He prefers to travel and seek for adventures, testing life to its limits. For Ulysses, traveling means enjoying and vile unpredictable moments. The sea and foreign lands, unlike a kingdom, presents varied and new experiences. Those that he had experienced so far have given him a famished heart (Tennyson 12). His voyages have brought him to strange places, allowed him to interact with different peoples, customs and cultures, and meet creatures unimaginable if one simply stayed in one place all his life.Moreover, he has experienced the drunk delight (Tennyson 16) of war in Troy. Nothing in his kingdom could equal the things he did and witnessed. All that Ulysses saw and did made him what he has release a nd has produced a kind of restlessness or thirst upon his soul that cannot now be satiated by ruling a kingdom. This past life as king has become dull in comparison to his life as a voyager and soldier. According to him, a person who is contented with his present life is like rusting and acknowledging that the only purpose of life is to breathe.Ulysses wants to follow knowledge like a sinking star/ Beyond the utmost bound of human suasion (Tennyson 31-32). He would like to keep exploring and test the boundaries of the capacities of an ordinary mortal, even one who is already old and less agile. He believes that ones age is not a factor to consider because old age hath yet his honor and his toil (Tennyson 50). Only death can stop and end the possibilities that life has to offer. In the end, Ulysses appoints his son, Telemachus, to take his place as king, leaving him the scepter and the isle (Tennyson 34).Meanwhile, he prepares to embark on another journey. The speakers exhortations to his former companions in the last stanza may well be read as words that any man should well take heed as a personal advice, particularly those who are contemplating a sedentary retirement in their senior years. The lines encourage everyone to not worry about the physical limitations that old age imposes upon every individualist because the weakness of the body can easily be overcome when one is strong in will (Tennyson 69). This is also how a heroic life is lived.