Medusa by Carol Ann Duffy
I love poems with mythological subjects. The imagery in this poem is rather disgusting, but very vivid and powerful. I very nearly feel sorry for Medusa.
Medusa
By Carol Ann Duffy
A suspicion, a doubt, a jealousy
grew in my mind,
which turned the hairs on my head to filthy snakes
as though my thoughts
hissed and spat on my scalp.
My bride’s breath soured, stank
in the grey bags of my lungs.
I’m foul mouthed now, foul tongued,
yellow fanged.
There are bullet tears in my eyes.
Are you terrified?
Be terrified.
It’s you I love,
perfect man, Greek God, my own;
but I know you’ll go, betray me, stray
from home.
So better by for me if you were stone.
I glanced at a buzzing bee,
a dull grey pebbly fell
to the ground.
I glanced at a singing bird,
a handful of dusty gravel
spattered down.
I looked at a ginger cat,
a housebrick
shattered a bowl of milk.
I looked at a snuffling pig,
a boulder rolled
in a heap of shit.
I stared in the mirror.
Love gone bad
showed me a Gorgon.
I stared at a dragon.
Fire spewed
from the mouth of a mountain.
And here you come
with a shield for a heart
and a sword for a tongue
and your girls, your girls.
Wasn’t I beautiful
Wasn’t I fragrant and young?
Look at me now.
Current Tea: wedding chai (Indian black tea blended with cardamom and vanilla)
I always feel sorry for women whom people fear. There’s usually a good reason for them to have become fearful. And being fearful is better than being a putz.
I loved this poem…I like the darkness and power it holds.
It’s one of my favorites.
i have to present this poem for an oral at school… but i don’t quite understand the first two lines of the poem… i thought she lost her beauty as a punishment from Athena (Minerva) for having sex with Poseidon (Neptune) in her temple…
so what has her suspicion, doubt and jealousy got to do with her hair turning into snakes..?
sorry if this is a very silly question but plz help me wid this… i am really confused…
i understand the rest of the poem though.. just this part. please..
Thank you,
Rattana
Rattana,
It’s been a long time since I read any mythology and I’m not all that familiar with Medusa, other than knowing she had snakes for hair. This poem comes from a collection called The World’s Wife by Carol Ann Duffy, in which she gives voice to various women throughout history and literature. My suggestion for your assignment is to try and figure out how Medusa might have felt, rather than rely on the bare bones of the story.
Thank you rinabeana… =)