An Ancient Gesture

In “An Ancient Gesture,” tears are a source of power and pride. The speaker is either crying or has finished crying: “I wiped my eyes on the corner of my apron,” she says in Lines 1 and 10. The tears don’t weaken the speaker, nor do they diminish her other faculties. Contrary to sexist stereotypes, she can be emotional and thoughtful at the same time. The tears yield to a meditation on another powerful, feeling woman: Penelope.

Penelope, too, comes across as a symbol of courage and determination. Her tears don’t signal fragility, or if they do exhibit vulnerability, they simply reveal her humanity and don’t automatically detract from her forcefulness. The speaker attributes Penelope’s tears to her resilience; She’s “weaving all day” (Line 3) and “undoing it all through the night” (Line 4). Thus, Penelope’s emotions reveal her power to endure. She has the strength to keep up the charade of work and wait for her husband to return. Her tolerance for pain and struggle accumulates into an explosion or “burst” of tears in Line 8.

Millay subverts the norm about crying in “An Ancient Gesture.” Expressing emotions makes a person superior. A genuine display of tears is a part of “the very best tradition (Line 12).