Campana Response

       In Campana’s “A Strange Little Gypsy,” the first-person narrator reveals his inner negation of sexual temptation. However, he refuses the little gypsy’s body only after entertaining impure thoughts and submitting to several of her kisses. He desires to be surrounded by evils, because it gives him the opportunity to prove his ability to refuse sin and augment his devotion to his religion. Campana imagines sexual intercourse with the little gypsy woman and how “pale, (she) will turn on the cushion / To dream and breathe the whisper / Of this slow magnetic dance” (97). He admires her features, saying “(he) would like to see (her) hair dance / On (her) slender yellow shoulders” (97). He even kisses her and remarks that “(her) kiss is slightly bitter pleasing / Painful” (97). He allows himself to fantasize intimacy with this woman, increasing his lust for her “slender” figure (97). Yet, he does not let the temptation conquer him. In a dramatic tone shift, he begins to compare the woman to the devil. He observes that “(she) is afraid of perfume,” and he “spills clouds of incense on his knees” (97). Incense has many religious connotations, perceived often in Christianity as prayers rising to God. In addition, “(he) slander(s her) / Because . . . / “she” dress(es) in red” (99). Red is a color often associated with sexual passion, sin, and the devil in the Christian church, due to the bible verse, “though your sins be as scarlet” (English Standard Version Isaiah 1.18). He likens her to “a rebellious and monstrous beast,” while perceiving himself as a “melodious saint” (99; 97). He overcomes the temptation that he originally allowed by associating her characteristics with the devil’s characteristics. He “thank(s) the Lord” and “overcomes the ivory of (her) belly” (99). However, he later states, “I would like to make / A fantastic diadem and wear it / On my head at the hour of my death / To hear the little demons with forked feet / Speak to me in confidence” (99). He is stating that before he dies, he wishes to have the opportunity to deny the devil in God’s name one more time. To this effect, he welcomes temptation, and even willingly amplifies evil’s power, to demonstrate his devotion to God.