The Odyssey 3: Tennyson's Ulysses
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Who wrote Ulysses and why is Tennyson framed as a self-help author?
Jonty, I've got a pretty urgent question for you today. Would you describe yourself as a striver, a seeker, a finder, or a yielder? And you can have all of the above if you want.
Have you been back at your self-help books again, Sophie? You know how much you love them.
I love a self-help book. Yes.
Who is the author of this self-help book?
A very surprising author, as a matter of fact. Shall I spoil it or would you like to answer the question first?
Let's answer the question. So I like to think I'm not a yielder, although I have yielded on occasion.
Not very often, though.
I like to think I'm a seeker. I think, I mean, who doesn't? All the best people are seekers. Not so much a finder. Definitely a striver. So I think I see life as a long, prolonged struggle.
Alpha plus for striving for you. Yes. Nice.
What about you, Soph?
Yes, let's see. I think, you know, not coincidentally, I think I'd probably map pretty much onto the same metric that you've just outlined there. I am not a yielder. That's a real point of pride for me. Don't yield, especially when it's something like my husband driving or my children suggesting things for dinner. Striving, I mean, I am Sophie Striver G. Love to seek, but I love to find, Jonti. I love to find.
You're all of them.
You're all of them. I'm all of them except yielding. You never yield. It's true.
You rarely yield.
No. Shall we have the big reveal?
Let's have the big reveal.
The author of this number one bestselling self-help book is none other than Alfred Lord Tennyson, the subject of today's episode.
This is The Secret Life of Books. I am Jonty Claypole. I'm very tall. I have a Spanish complexion, a massive mane of hair, as you can see, Sophie. I have a Spanish hat, a beard, a cloak, and I like nothing more than reciting my own poems, particularly the long ones, at dinner parties, whether or not anyone there wants to hear them.
That's absolutely splendid. I'm Sophie Gee. I'm a sort of angel in the house. I'm the ideal Victorian wife. Besotted, beloved, massively good at generating children, keeping the home fires burning, supporting my man. In fact, I'm going to go so far as to say I'm a bit of a yielder, Jonty. And this week, Ulysses by Alfred Lord Tennyson.
Hello, if you're the kind of person who loves books and the stories behind them, let me tell you about a podcast you might enjoy. I'm Jack Wilson, the host of the History of Literature podcast, where we talk to writers, scholars, biographers, and other guests as we try to understand just how literature works and what its impact on the world has been. Why are great books so great? How can reading fiction and poetry make us think and feel? And how does that fit into our busy lives today? At the History of Literature podcast, we dive into the greatest books from all over the world, from famous classics to underappreciated gems. Our goal is to stretch our minds and to see what big-hearted and great-souled people we can become, using literature as our inspiration and our guide.
If this sounds like a journey you'd like to join, try the History of Literature podcast, available on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
So, Jonty, we are forging ahead. We're striving and seeking and we're not yielding on our quest for the ultimate odyssey. And as you've said, long life is generally a good thing, especially if you're Odysseus, but rarely if you're a poet. Had Alfred Tennyson died young, like Keats or Byron or Shelley, he would have been remembered, like them, as a visionary, radical, even a dangerous poet. Instead, when we think of Alfred Tennyson, and let's face it, who doesn't think of Alfred Tennyson? Many of us think of a somewhat crusty Victorian, bearded, caped, cheering on Britain's armies as they charge into territories that they shouldn't be anywhere near, stormed at by shot and shell, in short. On such occasions, we think of Alfred Lord Tennyson, who was the poet laureate for almost 40 years.
which is 35 years longer, at least, than anyone should be poet laureate for. But the young Tennyson was a very different kettle of fish.
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