What is the meaning of 'To strive to seek to find and not to yield'?

Answer 1

This is a quotation from Alfred Lord Tennyson's poem Ulysses, which tells the story of the character of Ulysses (Odysseus in Greek). The poem talks of Ulysses' discontent with life as ruler of an island, and his restless wish to return to the sea where he made his name.

Ulysses knows that his death is approaching and wants to make the most of the rest of his life - 'Some work of noble note, may yet be done', rather than dying idly in bed. The last few lines reflect this:

...that which we are, we are;

One equal temper of heroic hearts,

Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will

To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.

So at its most basic, this quotation represents not giving in to a quiet death marred by unfulfilled potential - that you should make the most of your life.

ACTUALLY above is not incorrect but not the whole deal. Darwin's theory of Evolution was making an apearance at this time and the poem's underlying theme is to seek for knowledge and real truths. So the last line is a piggyback for the rest of the poem to seek for truths constantly. Another line in that poem:

"To follow knowledge like a sinking star,

Beyond the utmost bound of human thought"