This poem is spoken from the perspective of Medusa after she has been betrayed and her love has turned to hatred. She uses vivid imagery and metaphors to describe her transformation from an innocent woman to a vengeful monster. The repetitive use of the first person pronoun and questions directed at her lover convey her bitterness at being abandoned. Through dramatic shifts in tone and references to mythology, the speaker conveys the intensity of emotions that led to her monstrous appearance and warns of the dangers of love gone wrong.

1. Poetry Across Time: Character and voice
Key
Language: connotation, imagery, metaphor, simile
Structure and form: stanzas, type, patterns, contrast, juxtaposition
Poetic methods: alliteration, caesura, assonance, rhythm, rhyme
Character and voice: who is speaking and to whom? Tone of voice
Links: comparisons to other speakers, methods and themes
Medusa
Lang – simile
shows intensity of
feelings makes
A suspicion, a doubt, a jealousy
thoughts a reality. grew in my mind,
which turned the hairs n my head to filthy snakes,
as though my thoughts
hissed and spat on my scalp. Sibilance – reflects
venomous thoughts
and hissing of snakes
My bride’s breath soured, stank
– how many there are.
in the grey bags of my lungs.
Metaphor – image of war I’m foul mouthed now, foul tongues,
reflects anger and a wish yellow fanged.
to get revenge.
There are bullet tears in my eyes.
Are you terrified?
Be terrified. Sarcastic tone as he
It’s you I love, does not live up to this
perfect man, Greek God, my own; ideal – no man does for
her.
but I know you’ll go, betray me, stray
from home.
So better by far for me if you were stone.
Repetition of personal
pronoun – she feels Images of carefree summer
I glanced at a buzzing bee, days – that joy is gone.
that she deserves to
a dull grey pebble fell
be selfish and take
revenge. to the ground.
I glanced at a singing bird, Juxtaposition between the beauty of
a handful of dusty gravel nature and the cold, hard, man
spattered down.
Pets and buildings – symbols of
I looked at a ginger cat, domestic bliss and something she
Emphasises innocence/
a housebrick craved once.
unsuspecting nature of
the creature/men before shattered a bowl of mil.
being turned to stone I looked at a snuffling pig, a boulder rolled
in a heap of shit. A colloquial expletive that shocks the reader
and matches the feeling of the victim.

2. Repeated alliteration I stayed in the mirror.
in the poem Love gone bad Mythical creatures to be feared – she
indicates that the showed me a Gorgon. means to cause as much harm as possible.
persona is stuttering
I stared at a dragon
in passion and
anger. Fire spewed
from the mouth of a mountain.
And here you come
with shield for a heart
and a sword for a tongue Repetition reveals bitterness
as she is no longer ‘his’ girl.
Reminiscent of flowers – and your girls, your girls.
something fragile, feminine Wasn’t I beautiful?
and beautiful – ironic as Wasn’t I fragrant and young?
the opposite now.
Look at me now.
Interpretations of the Poem:
 A comment on how love does not always bring
happiness.
 A lesson about what hate and jealousy can do to a
person.
 An exploration of the mind of a spurned woman.