Concerning "Ulysses"

First and foremost, I loved this poem. From what I gathered it's the exact opposite of what Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein", which seemed to have a pessimistic view on the search for knowledge, whereas "Ulysses" embraces the search for discovering a higher meaning in the life of man, with an emphasis on discovering life through the individual. He opens with the line "It little profits that an idle kind... know not me." Basically, Tennyson is saying that it does one no good to not understand themselves, and that outside discovery cannot begin until that is accomplished. He then continues to pontificate about life through the eyes of Odysseus, and mentions that life has its ups and downs, parts he has "enjoyed" and parts he has "suffered." My personal favorite line is "I am a part of all that I have met." Tennyson is saying that everything we say and do is part of this interwoven network of action and reaction, where every little move, whether it be big or small, has some sort of impact on the world. We are a part of everything, no matter how separate we may feel. All that with just ten little one syllable words. Another line that reaffirms my contention that this is about discovering more of life and knowledge is "And this gray spirit yearning in desire to follow knowledge like a sinking star, beyond the utmost bound of human thought." Tennyson is suggesting that we push ourselves beyond our limits to discover a meta-cosmic understanding of the world and life. He plays off of the Romantic period's tendencies-- There's the isolation, the sense of the individual, but he plays it off so cool. It is beyond just the individual. It is the individual and the individual's rippling impact on the world around. Then there's also the love of the natural. The stars, the seas, all depicted with a sort of transcendent beauty. Really one of my favorite poems we read this year.

What was the purpose of using the allusion to Odysseus?

Are there any parts where Tennyson seems to have some trepidation towards discovery?

I'm craving IHOP.