In the poem, "Ithaka" represents several symbols: birth, life, world, and death. In the first stanza, "As you set out for Ithaka" means you are born and get ready to start your life in the world, so "Ithaka" means world in this line. In the second stanza, it says "Keep Ithaka always in your mind. Arriving there is what you're destined for. But don't hurry the journey at all." In this line, "Ithaka" means death, where every single of us will reach at the end of our life. In the last line of the same stanza, it says "so you're old by the time you reach the island(death), wealthy with all you've gained on the way, not expecting Ithaka to make you rich." "Ithaka" is likely to be birth or life. Birth lets you start your life but doesn't set up everything for your life. It is you who have to develop yourself and pave the way. This concept keeps going on in the fourth stanza. "Ithaka gave you the marvelous journey. Without her you wouldn't have set out. She has nothing left to give you now." In this line, the wording reminds me of mothers. They give birth to their children, sending them to "the marvelous journey." No mom, no child. "Ithaka" is like your mother, but mothers give you love and help you pave a good way. In the last stanza, "Ithaka" is life, since life "won't have fooled you". Also, as you learn and experience, you will gradually realize what life is, which "these Ithakas mean".
The narrator's tone is somewhat warm and loving, like a grandparent telling grandsons a story about life and giving advice about how they should pave their way. "Laistrygonians, Cyclops, angry Poseidon" are the main obstacles, and the narrator encourages readers to not fear them and get over them. Then,"summer mornings" means you are in your 20s, full with "pleasure" and "joy", taking one huge step. Then, if "you enter harbors you're seeing for the first time" get lost, you can take rest and do things that make you feel better: learning from the scholars in the library of Alexandria. At the end of your journey, you will now what life means with wisdom and experience you have gained throughout your life.
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