Alfred, Lord Tennyson's subject and tone of his poetry became radically different after the death of his best friend (Cain 126), a reaction to the fact to bear the emotional weight of life without him. This friend, Arthur Henry Hallam, whom Tennyson met at the poets' club at Trinity College, Cambridge, and who was also engaged to Tennyson's sister (Cain 126), died in Vienna at age 22 of a brain aneurysm (Cash 6). Combining pure emotion and thought, Tennyson completed “Ulysses,” one of his greatest poetic works, 20 days after being informed of his death (Cash 6). In a letter written by Tennyson, he states that "Ulysses" is about "going forward and braving the struggle of life" and it is "written under the sense of loss" (Cash 6). In “Ulysses,” Tennyson takes his intense grief over the loss of one of his best friends and transforms it into an ode to living life with as much intensity and adventure as possible. In order to convey his message effectively and poetically, Tennyson uses many literary devices and, in analyzing the work, it becomes clear that the main triumph of the language of "Ulysses" lies in its powerful use of symbolism, as demonstrated in the poem and reinforced through criticism and academic analysis. The way in which Tennyson manages to chain these symbols further enhances and strengthens his poetic vision. Throughout "Ulysses", Tennyson symbolizes his sense of loss of a friend by projecting himself into the poem through the character of Ulysses, as he also once admitted in one of his letters (Cash 6) . It could be said that the entire theme of the poem, "living life to the fullest", is a tribute to Hallam's fleeting life and also an ode to life without Hallam. Hallam was the adventure...... middle of paper ... and the West through "Ulysses", because its message is something that every human being is capable of feeling - the need to to know more, the need to understand, the need to grow as an intellectual. His passion is one of the many things that further unifies us as a species beyond biological processes, and for that he deserves the greatest respect and recognition for the masterpiece he was obtained. Works Cited Cain, Kathleen Shine et al. Introduction to literature. Boston: Pearson Learning Solutions, 2012. Print. Cash, Peter. “Alfred Tennyson.” English Association Bookmarks 68 (2011): 1-24. Internet. March 4. 2014. Hales, John W. Folia Litteraria; Essays and notes on English literature. London: Seeley and Co. Ltd., 1893. Print. Kyriakidou, Evangelina. “Ulysses by Tennyson: Ulysses as a mermaid.” Ulysses by Tennyson: Ulysses as a mermaid. The Classics Network, nd Web. March 8. 2014.