Summary

The speaker describes the mythical figure Medusa, conveying her as a mother whose children grow from her head. When one is faced with this figure, they become emotionally and physically paralyzed. They want to believe her words even as they know she is untruthful. The speaker wants to close their eyes and ears to Medusa, leaving her behind, so that her lies no longer carry any power.

Analysis

“Medusa” opens in the third-person point of view using the pronoun “She”: “She is the gypsy” (Line 1). However, it moves into the second-person point of view in the second stanza and maintains this perspective throughout the poem. The choice of the word “gypsy” is potentially contentious; today, it is sometimes used as a derogatory term for Roma people or other nomadic communities. In this context, however, it is used to convey a sense of otherworldly mysticism...