No More Heroes

Slightly digressed from my reading of Madeline Miller's The Song of Achilles (of which more soon) to read Tennyson's dramatic monologue Ulysses. The last time I read it with any intensity was when I taught it for 'A' level in the 90s, and I'd forgotten just how great a poem it is. (Teaching Tennyson is a useful way to remind oneself that he has a definite place amongst the greatest poets, by the way.)

There are a number of killer lines in the poem (killer sections, indeed) but for some reason the great hero's almost throwaway mention of a greater hero floored me. It's when he thinks of a possible encounter in the after-life:

       And see the great Achilles, whom we knew.

So simple, but perfectly poised rhythmically. The monosyllables build to the majestic name, and the line gorgeously, sadly falls away on what sounds like a kind of boast. Sometimes it's enough just to have been around incandescent greatness.