It is called Penelope. I understand the first verse and half of the last verse.
At first, I looked along the road
hoping to see him saunter home
among the olive tree,
whistle for the dog
who mournded him with his warm head on my knees.
Six months of this
and then i noticed that whole days had passed
without my noticing.
I sorted cloth and scissors, needle, thread
thinking to amuse myself,
but found a lfietime's industry instead.
I sewed a girl
under a single star - cross-stitch, silver silk -
running after childhood's bouncing ball.
I chose between three greens for the grass;
a smoky pink, a shdow's grey
to show a snapdragon gargling a bee
I threaded walnut brown for a tree,
my thimble like an acorn
pushing up through umber soil.
Beneath the shade
I wrapped a maiden in a deep embrace
with heroism's boy
and lost myself completely
in a wild embroidery of love, lust, lessons learnt;
then watched him sail away
into the loose gold stitching of the sun.
And when the tohers came to take his place,
disturb my peace,
I played for time.
I wore a widow's face, kept my head down,
did my work by day, at night unpicked it.
I knew which hour of the dark the moon
would start to fray,
I stitched it.
Grey threads and brown
pursued my needle's leaping fish
to form a river that would never reach the sea.
I tried it. I was picking out
the smile of a woman at the centre
of this world, self-contained, absorbed, content,
most certainly not waiting,
when I heard a far-too-late familiar tread outside the door.
I licked my scarlet thread and aimed it surely at the middle of the needle's eye once more.
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You say that you understand some of the beginning and end of the poem. Do you know who Penelope is in Homer's ancient Greek epic "The Odyssey"? Do you know whose return she's waiting for? This poem is Duffy's modern, feminist reinterpretation of that classical story. Web search Penelope and Odysseus for more information.
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Carol Ann Duffy poem help please?
It is called Penelope. I understand the first verse and half of the last verse.
At first, I looked along the road
hoping to see him saunter home
among the olive tree,
whistle for the dog
who mournded him with his warm head on my knees.
Six months of this
and then i noticed that whole days...
It's about this Penelope from Ancient Greece:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penelope
a character in "The Odyssey" by Homer. She is married to Odysseus (Ulysses).
He is away from home for many years, because he has joined an army attacking Troy. After the long siege he experiences many adventures on his way home. He is away so long that people assume he is dead, and her house is filled with men who wish to marry her. These are the "others" in the fourth stanza.
When he comes back, no-one believes it is him until he proves his strength. He has to string his old bow and then shoot an arrow through twelve axe shafts. That's the reason for the last line.
When an essay or part of an essay is judged to be too long it is usually because the author is using too many words to express an idea. It will help to re-read your introduction with a critical eye on "trimming the fat"so that you retain the idea with as few words as possible. A thesaurus will help you find words that express the idea that you are explaining with your text. (word choice) ;)
Good arguments, but I am not 100%