Penelope





The presumptive lovers are in Ithaca
 I don't know where the true lover is.

 To climb the olive trees
 perchance to see the true wreath somewhere.

 The olive trees are ageless on Ithaca
 and like the glory of this island
 do not dream of height
 nor fear death.

 In short
 in regard to immortality they are serene
 the pleasure their gigantic trunks will feel
 besieged by the desire
 to become a presumptive bed.

 To climb the waves of the sea
 perchance to take me to the true wreath.

 I fear the low spiritual level
 of the worlds seas
 which will drag little Ithaca
 along the Earth...
 which never would accept becoming sea
 and raising envy like a threatening mast
 with the blessings of Poseidon
 for good luck and a good time on Ithaca
 they become a presumptive wreath.

 In order to turn my face from the sky
 and pray for the true lover.

 The sky was born on Ithaca
 it was utterly debased the moment it left there
 and enraged by the devotion
 I show for Odysseus
 along with a whole raft of cynics and petty souls
 which rules the roost up there
 for this brilliant Virtue of ordinary mortals
 will be blinded by the foggy hate
 of becoming a presumptive bed.

 To spread my arms to the horizons
 perhaps at some point to touch the true wreath.

 The sleeping leaders
 who are not bothered by the black omens of Troy.
 They will awake from the delicate hands
 of a Beautiful Woman
 cursing sleep and dreams
 which have almost deprived them of being...
 what else?...and the ugly old men
 are looking forward to a sex party.

 In order to wait for a warm Mediterranean wind
 that will perhaps show me the course OdysseusÕ ship
 has taken.

 Despairing Penelope...
 don't make such mistakes!

All the winds are cold
 and lead exclusively to Troy.

 They will hurl you there as well
 if you keep company with faithless beauty
 which put a wreath on the worldÕs brow
 demonic and calamitous
 and then the world would suffer once again
 because all Troy
 will take breath from the ashes of destruction
 act coarsely
 and seize virgins.

 I consider them to be the most serious
 and dangerous suitors
 who will continue to lay claim to me
 like the dirty men
 who turned their back on Troy in flames
 because they were more enchanted
 by the winds of the loneliness of a single woman
 and then scattered by an unconscious horizon
 have then nullified the conscience of the world
 in order to carry out these wretched feats.

 But when you get down to it
 to carry on the scandal myself as well
 so they won't take me for a nothing
 I would like to say straight from the shoulder
 that these suitors who have colonized Ithaca
 as the seas have done to the soul of Odysseus
 have such weak male faces
 it's as if they've been washed off
 completely expressionless that is
 as pale as dust...

 And they cannot face
 the femininity of Penelope.
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Submitted on December 02, 2012

Modified on March 05, 2023

2:34 min read
7

Quick analysis:

Scheme AB CD AXXX XXEFG HI XCAXHXJAI XF ADJKXDXXG LI MNXJXOPH XXJ HX XN QHXKPNJEL KMHPXXJJXX XQOFAKBXBX XH
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 2,770
Words 509
Stanzas 17
Stanza Lengths 2, 2, 4, 5, 2, 9, 2, 9, 2, 8, 3, 2, 2, 9, 10, 10, 2

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    "Penelope" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 31 Oct. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/81648/penelope>.

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