“your small hands precisely equal to my own- only the thumb is larger, longer- in these hands/ I could trust the world, or in many hands like these/…”
When I read this, I immediately assumed she was speaking to a another woman, possibly a lover, but initially a specific person rather than addressing women in general. She then transitions into referencing women as a whole when she says “… or in many hands like these…”. Rich then goes on to talk about “…hands like these,/ handling power-tools, or steering-wheel…” physical labor oriented tasks that would be typically attributed to men; but Rich asserts that she ‘could trust’ these jobs in the hands of women. I feel here that she is not only saying that women can do the same jobs as men, but on a grander scale, that women are equal to men, and are equally capable to “…pilot the exporters rescue-ship/ through icebergs, or piece together/ the fine, needle-like herds of a great krater-cup/…”
Towards the end of the stanza, Rich references “… figures of ecstatic women striding/ to the sibyl’s den or the Eleusinian cave-“ Both of these are allusions to important and powerful females in ancient Greece and Greek mythology. A Sibyl was a woman through which deities would communicate oracles and prophecies. An Eleusinian Cave was a secret ceremonial site in ancient Greece, at which rituals were performed in honor of the Goddess Demeter, and her daughter Persephone. I believe Rich added this reference because Demeter is the goddess of fertility.
I’m glad you brought up Rich’s allusion to Greek myths. She often talks about Greek heroes in her poems and I feel like he importance of these stories are often overlooked when we discuss her work.
I think it’s interesting that Rich takes about trusting both this world and many worlds in the hands of women. I think this references women of the past and the way they’re carried responsibility, which ties into the allusions to Greek mythology and history.