An Ancient Gesture

Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1949

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Download PDF

Summary

Background

Poem Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Literary Devices

Further Reading & Resources

Related Poems

“First Fig” by Edna St. Vincent Millay (1920)

“First Fig” is one of Millay’s most famous poems. Unlike “An Ancient Gesture,” the form is organized. The lines are even, and there’s a predictable rhyme scheme. Although “First Fig” and “An Ancient Gesture” each convey the theme of unrelenting activity, “First Fig” presents a positive, almost glamorous picture of a frenzied lifestyle as it “gives a lovely light!” (Line 4). The light isn’t lovely in “An Ancient Gesture,” and Penelope’s candle doesn’t burn “at both ends” (Line 1). It burns at one end—struggle. If “An Ancient Gesture” is a partly autobiographical poem, it suggests that Millay’s candle began to burn only at one end near the end of her life. It wasn’t fun and hard work, like it appears in “First Fig”—it was just hard work.

“Ebb” by Edna St. Vincent Millay (1922)

In “An Ancient Gesture,” one of the reasons why Penelope cries is because of her missing husband. In “Ebb,” Millay also explores how a missing romantic partner can leave a person feeling distraught. Instead of focusing on tears, Millay focuses on her speaker’s heart. The departure of her lover has left it “tepid” (Line 6) and shriveled. Much like Penelope, the speaker in “Ebb” is an emotional and fragile place. Unlike Penelope, the speaker’s vulnerability doesn’t link to willpower or determination. Penelope cries and keeps weaving in the hopes Ulysses, her love, will return. The speaker in “Ebb” knows her lover won’t return since their love has “died” (Line 2).

“Her Kind” by Anne Sexton (1960)

In “An Ancient Gesture,” Millay alludes to a poem from Ancient Greece and subverts the norms. She downgrades Ulysses and uplifts Penelope. In a sense, the latter becomes the hero for her honest tears, and Ulysses attempts to copy her heroics or emotions. In “Her Kind,” Anne Sexton alludes to witches and the complex history of calling women who didn’t conform “witches” and persecuting or burning them. The speaker in “An Ancient Gesture” proudly identifies with Penelope, and the speaker in Sexton’s poem boldly identifies with the alleged witches. In Sexton’s poem, witches are powerful and liberated. Similar to Millay’s poem, crying is also a powerful act.

Further Literary Resources

The Tears of Achilles by Hélène Monsacré, translated by Nicholas J. Snead (2018)

In The Tears of Achilles, the French scholar Hélène Monsacré examines how crying works in Homer’s epic poems The Odyssey and The Iliad. In one section, “Tears in a Different World: The Odyssey,” she talks about how Odysseus (Ulysses in Millay’s poem) struggles to keep his emotions in check to conform to masculine norms. “Holding back tears is the best form of conduct for a man,” notes Monsacré. In “An Ancient Gesture,” letting tears out is what’s admirable. Placed in conversation with Millay’s poem, it seems like masculine norms corrupted Ulysses’s ability to cry genuinely, which might be why he can only copy Penelope.

The Trojan Women by Rosanna Bruno and Anne Carson (2021)

In “An Ancient Gesture,” Millay plays with a Greek classic—putting her spin on the characters, their actions, and how to interpret them. Throughout her career, the poet, translator, and essayist Anne Carson has been playing with classical Greek texts, translating them in unique ways, and presenting them in singular formats. The Trojan Woman is a play by Euripides, and it’s about the women of war-torn Troy. Carson turns the play into a comic book, with Rosanna Bruno providing the illustrations. Like Millay’s poem, Bruno’s grisly pictures and Carson’s innovative translation demonstrates the ongoing relevance of Greek thought in the modern world.

“How Fame Fed on Edna St. Vincent Millay” by Maggie Doherty (2022)

Maggie Doherty’s review of Rapture and Melancholy: The Diaries of Edna St. Vincent Millay focuses more on Millay’s life and career than the diary entries, so her article provides a detailed look into Millay’s eventful life. As Doherty says, “Millay achieved the kind of fame that was unusual for a poet then and unthinkable now. Before the age of the movie star, she became America’s first starlet.” Doherty documents the price of fame, the consequences of her affairs, and why contemporary scholars seem to “trip all over themselves to assure readers that they don’t consider Millay significant, or even a particularly good poet.”