How dull it is to pause, to make an end,
To rust unburnish'd, not to shine in use!
These lines are from "Ulysses", composed by Tennyson, the famous poet of the Victorian age. These lines suggest Ulysses' hatred for inaction and the thriving spirit of the Victorian period.
Ulysses returned home after twenty years. He passed ten years in the Trojan War and ten years on his way back to home. He is now old. But his heart is still young. He still has the unquenchable thirst for adventure and exploration. He cannot live an idle life without the charm of adventure. The poet here uses a metaphor to suggest this mental state of Ulysses. A sword remains shiny when it is in use. But if it is not used and kept in scabbard, a layer of rust spoils it. Tennyson, in these lines, compares life to a sword. Life, like a sword, is spoiled if it is not used in activities. Thus, here is a suggestion that life should be used in action. This belief of Ulysses is, in fact, the belief of the Victorians. The Victorians succeeded in geographical exploration, acquisition of knowledge, industrialization and in over all development of life but they were not happy with their achievements. They wanted more and more success. This spirit of the age has been implied in these lines.
