Alfred Tennyson’s “Ulysses”

Over half a year ago, I began writing about a great poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson. I fiddled with the letter, revising, making sure the typography would work in a letter sent by email. I felt the unsent letter hanging over me; meanwhile, I composed another letter, soon to come, on poetry, anchored in an excerpt from William Carlos Williams; and still another (in process) on a poem by Matthew Arnold. Then I, as millions of others, saw ‘the movie of the year,’ The Odyssey , directed by Christopher Nolan. Something about the last scene (spoiler alert) when Odysseus sails off with Penelope, leavin

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