Nthis excerpt from "ulysses" by alfred, lord tennyson, which of the following is a recurring concept?
i am a part of all that i have met;
yet all experience is an arch wherethro'
gleams that untravell'd world whose margin fades
for ever and forever when i move.
how dull it is to pause, to make an end,
to rust unburnish'd, not to shine in use!
as tho' to breathe were life! life piled on life
were all too little, and of one to me
little remains: but every hour is saved
from that eternal silence, something more,
a bringer of new things; and vile it were
for some three suns to store and hoard myself,
and this gray spirit yearning in desire
to follow knowledge like a sinking star,
beyond the utmost bound of human thought.
a)the heroic exploits of ulysses
b)the acceptance of circumstances created by fate
c)the knowledge of approaching death
d)the effects and difficulties of old age
e)the thirst for knowledge and new experiences

I would contend that the right answer is the E) The thirst for knowledge and new experiences.

Explanation: Just to elaborate a little on the answer, it can be added that there are several references in the poem, and in this particular passage, to this concept, which turn it into a recurring theme. For instance, the speaker says: "How dull it is to pause [...] To rust unburnish'd" and "[...] this gray spirit yearning in desire to follow knowledge like a sinking star," just to name a few. Like Ulysses before embarking upon his final and challenging voyage, the speaker is also aware that his end is approaching, but rather than waiting for it passively, he decides to face the challenges and the struggles, and, moved by his thirst for knowledge, he keeps pushing onward. The death of a close friend at a very young age inspired Tennyson to write this poem in 1833.    

the answer is:  

he is voicing feelings shared by all humans regardless of race.

in paul laurence dunbar's poem "we wear the mask," he replicates the words mask and we to emphasize how people in general -not just black americans- hide their true feelings. he suggests the masks cover people's faces and eyes, which are the main parts that display their emotions. he also thinks people's pain conceal behind those masks, so that they cannot see reality and nobody is able to see one another's sorrow.

i believe the answer is d