English I: "Odysseus" by W. S. Merwin

This mid-20th-century poem by W. S. Merwin offers a different perspective on the mindset and experiences of the legendary hero on his "epic" journey.
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. recede
    pull back or move away or backward
    Behind him on the receding shore
    The identical reproaches, and somewhere
    Out before him, the unravelling patience
    He was wedded to.
  2. identical
    exactly alike; incapable of being perceived as different
    Behind him on the receding shore
    The identical reproaches, and somewhere
    Out before him, the unravelling patience
    He was wedded to.
  3. reproach
    express criticism towards
    Behind him on the receding shore
    The identical reproaches, and somewhere
    Out before him, the unravelling patience
    He was wedded to.
  4. unravel
    become undone
    Behind him on the receding shore
    The identical reproaches, and somewhere
    Out before him, the unravelling patience
    He was wedded to.
  5. patience
    good-natured tolerance of delay or incompetence
    Behind him on the receding shore
    The identical reproaches, and somewhere
    Out before him, the unravelling patience
    He was wedded to.
  6. twine
    arrange or coil around
    There were the islands
    Each with its woman and twining welcome
    To be navigated, and one to call "home."
  7. navigate
    direct carefully and safely
    There were the islands
    Each with its woman and twining welcome
    To be navigated, and one to call "home."
  8. betray
    reveal unintentionally
    The knowledge of all that he betrayed
    Grew till it was the same whether he stayed
    Or went.
  9. departure
    the act of leaving
    And what wonder
    If sometimes he could not remember
    Which was the one who wished on his departure
    Perils that he could never sail through,
    And which, improbable, remote, and true,
    Was the one he kept sailing home to?
  10. peril
    a source of danger
    And what wonder
    If sometimes he could not remember
    Which was the one who wished on his departure
    Perils that he could never sail through,
    And which, improbable, remote, and true,
    Was the one he kept sailing home to?
  11. improbable
    having a chance of occurring too low to inspire belief
    And what wonder
    If sometimes he could not remember
    Which was the one who wished on his departure
    Perils that he could never sail through,
    And which, improbable, remote, and true,
    Was the one he kept sailing home to?
  12. remote
    located far away spatially
    And what wonder
    If sometimes he could not remember
    Which was the one who wished on his departure
    Perils that he could never sail through,
    And which, improbable, remote, and true,
    Was the one he kept sailing home to?
Created on Fri Apr 10 15:45:15 EDT 2026 (updated Wed May 27 18:22:06 EDT 2026)

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