 Tennyson penned " Ulysses " after the death of his close Cambridge friend , the poet Arthur Henry Hallam ( 1811 – 1833 ) , with whom Tennyson had a strong emotional bond . The two friends had spent much time discussing poetry and philosophy , writing verse , and travelling in southern France , the Pyrenees , and Germany . Tennyson considered Hallam destined for greatness , perhaps as a statesman . 
