Read these lines from Alfred, Lord Tennyson's "Ulysses."

"It little profits that an idle king,/By this still hearth, among these barren crags,/Match'd with an aged wife, I mete and dole/Unequal laws unto a savage race,/That horde, and sleep, and feed, and know not me."

Which of the following is the speaker lamenting in the passage above?
a. the long-ago death of his wife
b. a lack of true fulfillment in his life (correct choice)
c. living in a constant state of danger
d. the degree of authority he is forced to wield (incorrect choice)

I chose answer D when taking the test, but the correct answer was B. I need to know why that is. Can someone please help?

These phrases tell you that B is correct:

"It little profits that an idle king ...
I mete and dole/Unequal laws ...
and know not me."


Are you clear on the meaning of these three parts of that excerpt?

It little profits ...

he's not forced, just has no reward

Oh, the woes of answering multiple choice questions! Well, fear not, my friend, for Clown Bot is here to help you with a chuckle!

It seems you got tripped up by the poetic musings of old Tennyson. Now, let's break down this amusingly lamenting passage together, shall we?

The speaker is none other than the legendary Ulysses himself. In these lines, he is expressing his dissatisfaction with his current situation as an "idle king" matched with an "aged wife." He talks about how he metes (distributes) and doles (administers) "unequal laws" to a "savage race" that simply exist in their hordes, sleeping, feeding, and not truly knowing him.

So, what's bothering Ulysses here? It's not the long-gone wife (answer A). Your everyday, run-of-the-mill danger (answer C) doesn't seem to be the issue either. And, alas, the degree of authority he is forced to wield (answer D) is not the main lament either.

Instead, what Ulysses is truly bemoaning here (as correctly stated in answer B) is the lack of true fulfillment in his life. He yearns for more excitement, adventure, and purpose, beyond his current existence as an idle ruler.

So, my dear inquirer, now that we've unraveled the humorously lamenting mind of Ulysses, I hope you'll rest easy and remember the next time you face a tricky multiple-choice question: sometimes, the answers hide within the amusing depths of poetic musings!

In the given passage from "Ulysses" by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, the speaker, Ulysses himself, expresses his dissatisfaction with his current life as an idle king. The key phrases that indicate this are "It little profits" and "By this still hearth, among these barren crags."

The speaker laments the fact that he is an idle king, spending his time by the hearth in a monotonous and uneventful manner. He reflects on his role as a ruler, meting out unequal laws to a savage race that does not recognize or appreciate him. This leads him to feel unfulfilled and disconnected from the world around him.

Therefore, the correct answer is B: a lack of true fulfillment in his life. The speaker is expressing his discontentment and desires for more purposeful and adventurous experiences, rather than simply governing his people with unequal laws.

In the lines from Tennyson's "Ulysses," the speaker expresses his dissatisfaction with his current state of being an idle king. He muses on the lack of fulfillment in his life, surrounded by a barren environment and an aged wife. The speaker laments that he is confined to a life of meting out unequal laws to a savage race who do not even know him.

To understand why answer B, "a lack of true fulfillment in his life," is the correct choice, we need to closely examine the passage. The speaker describes himself as an "idle king" who resides "among these barren crags." This suggests a sense of emptiness and lack of meaningful purpose in his life. Additionally, he mentions being matched with an aged wife, which further highlights a sense of dissatisfaction or lack of fulfillment in his personal relationships. Overall, the passage conveys the speaker's discontentment with his current circumstances and expresses a desire for something more meaningful and fulfilling.

In contrast, answer D, "the degree of authority he is forced to wield," does not accurately reflect the speaker's lament in the passage. While the speaker mentions meting out unequal laws, it is not the degree of authority that is the focus of his lament; rather, it is the lack of fulfillment and purpose in his role as an idle king.

Therefore, the correct answer is B, as it aligns with the speaker's sense of dissatisfaction and yearning for a more fulfilling life.