From Homer

Who better than you should tell me this?

How when he returned from all his travels

Ulysses spent the first night of return

Not in love-making, not even with a kiss

For Penelope his wife, who, woof and warp

Weaving had waited for him patiently,

Rejected all the suitors who had come

And kept so purely and so long her love.

She listened to it all with interest

Until day came at last. Then marvellously

A goddess gave them suddenly at once

Another night for love and joy, then rest.

PENELOPE

Weave on Penelope, you must,

Waiting for your lover who

Travels half the world. No lust,

Only love abides in you.

The suitors come. You cast them off.

Let your faithful weaving go

On and on until your love

Can return and cherish you.