by Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Ulysses Old Age Quotes
How we cite our quotes: Line Number
we are not now that strength which in old days
moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are (65-67)
Ulysses describes a change in physical strength that we tend to associate with old age; the phrase "old days" makes us think he and his men were strong a long time ago. However, he never actually says he and his men are weak, only that they don't have the same strength they used to and that now they're something else: "one equal temper of heroic of heroic hearts" (68). Perhaps this sense of unity is a new kind of strength.