Symbol Analysis
We like the moon. Really. It's pretty, it lights up the dark night, it looks peaceful, and it provides inspiration. It also has an undeniable effect on us. Just look up the relationship between a full moon and crime statistics. We mean, the moon really puts the "luna" in lunatic. In "Romance Sonambulo," the moon affects the speaker powerfully, but is also a symbol of distance, presiding from high above over the speaker's frustrated attempts to fulfill his desire. The moon, for all its beauty, is out of reach, reminding the speaker how far he truly is from attaining his wishes.
- Line 10: The speaker points out that the girl of his dreams is "under the gypsy moon." She is colored by the moon's qualities of freedom and wild abandon. What's more, she's well out of the speaker's reach.
- Line 51: The speaker envisions his goal as a balcony ("the railings") on the moon. That's a pretty steep climb. We wonder if he's not subconsciously setting himself up to fail in his pursuits. After all, no one can climb to the moon, right?
- Line 77: Now the gypsy girl is swinging from "an icicle of moon." If we had to calculate exactly, we'd say that's… yeah, uh… pretty high. Once again, the moon provides a way to characterize just how far out of reach the object of the speaker's desire is. Poor speaker.