An Ancient Gesture

In Millay’s poem, weaving symbolizes difficult work. To fend off the lecherous suitors, Penelope assigns herself an occupation. She becomes a weaver and spends her day weaving a shroud for Ulysses’s dad. At night, she labors at undoing the work she accomplished during the day. Penelope has a full-time job, and the physical toil puts her bodily and mental health in jeopardy. Her arms “get tired,” and the back of her neck “gets tight” (Line 5). Mentally, she seems on the precipice of gloom as she thinks “it will never be light” (Line 6). Through the symbol of weaving, Millay expresses the strain Penelope is under and her power to endure hard labor and not lose the ability to express emotion or “burst into tears” (Line 8).

Seeing weaving as a symbol of work can also produce an interpretation where the poem’s speaker is Millay. As with Penelope, Millay worked throughout her life, and her toils hurt her body. In a 2022 article in The New Yorker, “How Fame Fed on Edna St. Vincent Millay,” Maggie Doherty notes Millay’s “mounting bodily ailments: headaches, stomach aches, hangovers, nerve pain in her shoulder and back, exhaustion.” Just as there was always weaving for Penelope to do, Millay might have felt there were always more books to write, readings to give, or lectures to present.