Great Regulars: The speaker then claims that in the harbor

his ships are ready. And although he and his sailors are old, "Some work of noble note, may yet be done." For the men who fought very great odds to return to their homes, the speaker avers that something useful should still be available for them accomplish.

from Linda Sue Grimes: Suite101.com: Alfred, Lord Tennyson's "Ulysses"

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The speaker then lists further things she has personally lost: "two cities," "some realms," "two rivers," and "a continent." Of course, she is speaking figuratively here. She did not literally own cities, rivers, and a continent. She means that she no longer has a relationship with these places. Still their loss, because of her diligent practice, is not "a disaster."

from Linda Sue Grimes: Suite101.com: Bishop's "One Art"

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Barley belongs to the fabrication of the liquor/poem because of "the manner of its malting." But before that stage, it stood up to the wind in a certain way, it sprouted, dried, and ripened in its own unique manner. Before a poem can be poured into the glass of the blank page, it too must stand up to many winds of opposition; it must also sprout, dry, and ripen in the mind of the poet.

from Linda Sue Grimes: Suite101.com: December Poet--David Solway

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The Divine then reminds the speaker that He came to the speaker in the form of his son to teach him more clearly about the nature of God's love for man. The Divine remarks, "My servant Death with solving rite/Pours finite into infinite," then asks the mourner, "Wilt thou freeze love's tidal flow,/Whose streams through nature circling go?"

from Linda Sue Grimes: Suite101.com: Emerson's "Threnody"

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