She is the gypsy / Whose young have rooted
-- Speaker (Lines 1-2)

Importance: Although “gypsy” carries some challenging connotations today, it has long carried a sense of mysticism as well as nomadism. Using this image in the opening line portrays the title character as someone magical whose name and influence have transcended geographic boundaries. Ironically, the next line references Medusa’s children being “rooted,” or having put down roots, creating an immediate juxtaposition and contrast.

Your senses spin, and you are stone / Even as you stand before her
-- Speaker (Lines 5-6)

Importance: This is the first introduction of the second-person “you” pronoun, which carries on in each following stanza of the poem. Using the present tense, the poem leads the reader into the world of the story by first conveying a sense of imbalance, and then compounding it with a sense of immobility. The phrase “Even as you stand before her” firmly roots the reader’s experience in the...