Penelope is the poem's central figure, drawn from Classical epic but reimagined through a modern psychological lens. She anticipates the return of her husband, using her long vigil as an exercise in profound contemplation. Through her unending desire and focus, she actively composes her own identity and alters her physical environment, mending the trees and washing away the winter. She operates as a dedicated artist constructing a reality out of memory and longing.

Ulysses is Penelope's long-absent husband, cast here less as a flesh-and-blood man and more as a symbol of desire and natural force. He exists in a state of perpetual approach from the east, blurring visually and conceptually with the warmth and light of the rising sun. His ambiguous presence acts as the catalyst that awakens the immediate environment and drives his wife's daily creative rituals.

The unnamed narrator maintains an omniscient, third-person limited perspective centered entirely on Penelope's psychological state. This voice acts as a bridge between the reader and the poem's internal events, conveying the fluid boundary between objective reality and subjective creation. The speaker carefully details the domestic surroundings and natural elements reacting to the protagonist's emotional state.

Georges Enesco is a real-world French composer whose translated interview provides the thematic foundation for the entire poem. He admits to spending too much time traveling and performing, ultimately identifying deep contemplation as the true wellspring of his creativity. His definition of living in a "permanent dream" sets the stage for the narrative that follows.