Louise Glück

(b. 1943)
From The Meadowlands (1996)

It was fun to read these poems through the lens of myth and then through the lens of contemporary society. I think I get bogged down trying to make everything something profound, so I thought I would just say some thing short about these.

"Penelope’s Song"
This one seemed to have a lot of crossover between mythical and contemporary. I saw Penelope climbing a tree, looking and longing for Odysseus. I also saw a housewife wanting her husband home. He has been gone too long, long enough for a tan (18). Did I say she wanted him? She is a mix of frustration, exasperation, and maybe anger. He gets home, and all he wants in his grilled chicken (19). She shakes her boughs (20) letting him know that she truthfully wanted to him to spend time with her. She is subtle, trying to let this be known without causing his face to ‘be marred’ (23), presuming that he is going to get angry with her.

"Quiet Evening"
This was so beautiful. I read it almost completely in the modern sense. It seems like an older couple, now empty-nesters, enjoying an evening of each other’s company.

I’ve heard that sociologists say it takes 9-14 years for the thinking in a relationship to shift from “me” to “we.” So this couple seems to have moved into these years, and it just seems so beautiful:

So Penelope took the hand of Odysseus,
not to hold him back but to impress
this peace on his memory:

from this point on, the silence through which you move
is my voice pursuing you. (9-13).

The beauty in this relationship seems magnified when I re-read it: In the quote above, Penelope takes Odysseus’ hand, impressing their evening into his memory. In the opening line Odysseus takes Penelope’s hand; “then we’re alone/ in the life-threatening forest.” (1-2). It is almost like he is summoning this memory to his mind. And suddenly, true to her intent, he has her and peace.