Which line(s) from the poem, “An Ancient Gesture,” MOST create(s) a tone of remorse and regret?
1 I thought, as I wiped my eyes on the corner of my apron:
2 Penelope did this too.
3 And more than once: you can't keep weaving all day
4 And undoing it all through the night;
5 Your arms get tired, and the back of your neck gets tight;
6 And along towards morning, when you think it will never be light,
7 And your husband has been gone, and you don't know where, for years.
8 Suddenly you burst into tears;
9 There is simply nothing else to do.
10 And I thought, as I wiped my eyes on the corner of my apron:
11 This is an ancient gesture, authentic, antique,
12 In the very best tradition, classic, Greek;
13 Ulysses did this too.
14 But only as a gesture,—a gesture which implied
15 To the assembled throng that he was much too moved to speak.
16 He learned it from Penelope...
17 Penelope, who really cried.
ALines 2-3 because the speaker expresses many sorrows for repeating mistakes made in the past
BLines 3-4 because the speaker acknowledges the absurdity of not applying lessons learned from the past
CLine 7 because the speaker’s longing to change the past causes excessive mourning
DLines 8-9because the speaker’s lack of repentance from making mistakes leads to meaningless excuses
1 I thought, as I wiped my eyes on the corner of my apron:
2 Penelope did this too.
3 And more than once: you can't keep weaving all day
4 And undoing it all through the night;
5 Your arms get tired, and the back of your neck gets tight;
6 And along towards morning, when you think it will never be light,
7 And your husband has been gone, and you don't know where, for years.
8 Suddenly you burst into tears;
9 There is simply nothing else to do.
10 And I thought, as I wiped my eyes on the corner of my apron:
11 This is an ancient gesture, authentic, antique,
12 In the very best tradition, classic, Greek;
13 Ulysses did this too.
14 But only as a gesture,—a gesture which implied
15 To the assembled throng that he was much too moved to speak.
16 He learned it from Penelope...
17 Penelope, who really cried.
