| On the black rook | over pit dark | a hero stands. |
| Oar in right hand | steel in left fist | forlorn vigil |
| Screaming at last | dark defiant | hail Ulysses! |
| Ever battles | lost, and not found | lost, and not found |
| Both hands hold rudder | searching for home | running the wind |
| Mariner sails | gray rack wind blows | forlorn duty |
| Screaming at last | sea-surrendered | hail Ulysses! |
| Ever battles | lost, and not found | lost, and not found |
| Achilles’ fate | deathless lying | leaving a curse |
| Ever wandering | rolling a toss | never resting |
| Screaming at last | fates forgiven | hail Ulysses! |
| Ever battles | lost, and not found | lost, and not found |
| Penelope! | Remembered long | love in the mist |
| Buttress’d by oak | weak heart failing | never trusting |
| Screaming at last | passion’s pleading | hail Ulysses! |
| Ever battles | lost, and not found | lost, and not found |
| Telemachus! | Oh no, my son! | Immortal gift |
| Proud and loyal | dark heart hides him | never blessing |
| Screaming at last | heart a-hammering | hail Ulysses! |
| Ever battles | lost, and not found | lost, and not found |
| Homer’s dark hell | cannot come home | life so empty |
| Justice a farce | end not written | death demanding |
| Screaming at last | final foretaste | hail Ulysses! |
| Ever battles | lost, and not found | lost, and not found |
| Where’s the beacon? | mariner’s hope | light to lead on |
| Pride snuffed out | the fallen God | untimely death |
| Screaming at last | the end has come | folly forsakes |
| Us, left to die | Hail Ulysses! | The last goodbye |
| Hail Ulysses! | And hail again . . . | clever warrior |
| Matchless valor | that never ends | that never ends |
| That never ends | that ne-ver ends | that ne-v-er ends . . . |
Copyright © 2007 by John Merryweather Cooper. All Rights Reserved.
It will take me a couple of readings to even begin to fathom this one, but I like the repetitive phrases and the sweeping nature of the poem alot.
It is helpful to familiar with Tennyson’s Ulysses first.