Question

What effect does the structure of the lines in the poem "Ulysses" (for example, run-ons, broken lines, stressed-unstressed pattern) have on the tone of the poem?

Answer 1

The poem is written as a dramatic monologue, wherein, the speaker of the poem or the author talks to an implied audience. Its lines are in blank verse or written in an unrhymed iambic pentameter, which makes the poem flow more naturally, and more effective in delivering a speech. The absence of a rhyme scheme makes the poem more conversational and realistic. Its thoughts do not end in line-breaks, but this form seems appropriate, as the poem calls out to its audience for action to be made and push the limits of humanity.

Answer 2

The structure of the lines creates a tone that reflects restlessness and change. Blank verse gives the poem a natural, narrative flow, while the iambic pentameter gives it a rhythm that sounds like action and movement. The run-on, or enjambed, lines and those that end a sentence mid line (caesura) create a feeling of starting and stopping, of lingering and darting, that echoes the poem's celebration of travel:

I cannot rest from travel: I will drink

Life to the lees: All times I have enjoy’d

Greatly . . .

The reader has to extend "I will drink" to the next line to see the enthusiasm of "Life to the lees." Then the reader must stop with the new sentence and again stretch enjoy'd to its amplifying modifier Greatly.