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July 9th, 2008 - we have 237 poets, 8036 poems and 17663 comments.
Edna St. Vincent Millay - An Ancient Gesture

I thought, as I wiped my eyes on the corner of my apron:
Penelope did this too.
And more than once: you can't keep weaving all day
And undoing it all through the night;
Your arms get tired, and the back of your neck gets tight;
And along towards morning, when you think it will never be light,
And your husband has been gone, and you don't know where, for years.
Suddenly you burst into tears;
There is simply nothing else to do.

And I thought, as I wiped my eyes on the corner of my apron:
This is an ancient gesture, authentic, antique,
In the very best tradition, classic, Greek;
Ulysses did this too.
But only as a gesture,—a gesture which implied
To the assembled throng that he was much too moved to speak.
He learned it from Penelope...
Penelope, who really cried.

Added: on February 28th, 2008 at 2:33 PM | Viewed: 9642 times | Comments and analysis of An Ancient Gesture by Edna St. Vincent Millay Comments (26)


An Ancient Gesture - Comments and Information

Poet: Edna St. Vincent Millay
Poem: An Ancient Gesture

Comment 26 of 26, added on April 3rd, 2008 at 8:37 PM.

In the story odysseus has been gone for about 20 years and penelope is being pestered to choose a new king and she tells her people that as soon as she finishes the quilt she will choose a king so by day she quilts and at night she undo's it. Thought id throw that in

brad from United States
Comment 25 of 26, added on March 19th, 2008 at 10:13 AM.

Ha! you have this for AP? im a freshman and im doing this in our 2nd six weeks and have to have a resource paper for it. Still a good poem.

the man from United States
Comment 24 of 26, added on February 28th, 2008 at 2:33 PM.

ulysses is another name for Odysseus, it is his name in roman language learned that from english teacher

sara from United States

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