Greek myths can be used to enhance experiences or explain trend. Muriel Rukeyser uses one particular myth which says of a Greek hero, Icarus. The myth suggests that Daedalus, Icarus' dad, was hired by King Minos to create a complex labyrinx where to carry prisoners. Upon conclusion of the work, the Ruler refused to permit Daedalus and his boy, Icarus, to return home. Daedalus used his great creativeness to make wings of wax for himself and his son. After explicit instructions from his daddy, Icarus and his dad flew from the prison, over the sea, and towards home. Despite his dad's warnings, Icarus thought we would fly too near the sun, melting his wings and falling to his loss of life in the ocean and drowning. Rukeyser uses the myth of Icarus as an avenue to help demonstrate the feelings of a lady ready patiently for destroyed assurances and shattered dreams to become a reality.
The overall firmness and viewpoint have a drastic turn in the second stanza. Just as the first stanza uses repetition, the next does as well, however, the next stanza is from the women's point of view and each repetitive series starts off with "I recall" (12-18). The dude reminisces about at all times she has spent waiting on her behalf lover, and the experiences she has been through while anticipating his go back. The quantity of time lost is referred to when she remarks, "I recall the islands heading dark on the ocean" (13). But not given an exact time frame, the idea that she's wasted times and even, possibly, her life is visible from her firmness.
Time is not the thing lost. Dignity is also lost, as well. The speaker stocks that that girls are laughing and even recommending that "he only wanted to move away from me" (15). The damage she feels, not only when you are empty by the enthusiast, but also by being laughed at by her friends, can be seen in these lines. A lot more hurtful than her friends making fun of her, she stocks that her own mom calls her fan "a trashy whole lot" (16) and goes on to hurt her even more by proclaiming, "Women who love such are the worst of all" (18). The betrayed enthusiast has come to the realization, by using time, family, and friends, that she's indeed been abandoned by her fan with his clear promises and does not have any intention of time for her to "drink wine together" (1).
The final three lines of the poem depict the enlightened young lady's thoughts after she is hit with the entire realization that she's thrown away her time, and she stocks that she feels like a fool but might be able to move away from these thoughts. She states, "I'd have liked to try those wings myself / It could have been much better than this" (20-21). She hints she would like to try to escape, as her enthusiast performed, and leave of most her problems behind.
Although Icarus is only pointed out once, in the name, the writer alludes to the myth throughout the poem by her choice of words. Inadvertently, Icarus becomes the lover who has try to escape leaving his lady waiting on the beach for his go back. The writer mentions inventors discussing the missing lover, which as the myth expresses is Icarus' dad's vocation. The legend goes on to tell of how Icarus flies into the sky using his wing made of wax which parallels the authors choice of words as the enthusiast reminisces that her lover informed her, "He was entering the globe and the sky" (7) with the offer that "the buckles were very stable" (8) and "the wax was the best wax" (9). Muriel Rukeyser does a fantastic job of taking a popular Greek myth and utilizing it to share the untold area of the storyplot.
