Symbol Analysis
The gypsy element is a super-big deal to Lorca's writing in general, and to "Romance Sonambulo" specifically. "Gypsy" is a term that gets thrown around a lot to describe people from Eastern Europe, Spain, and even Ireland. For our purposes here, it's important to know that Lorca was thinking of the local population of gypsies who lived near his home in southern Spain. They fostered the flamenco culture and, to Lorca, were an inspiring group that embraced life with passionate abandon. He wanted to celebrate them, and their philosophy, in his poems.
- Line 10: The moon here is a "gypsy moon," which hangs over the scene, and the poem itself, lending its wild, free qualities to the girl who is the object of the speaker's desire.
- Line 74: It's no surprise to see that the "gypsy girl" is swinging from on high. It's just the kind of impetuous, dangerous, and liberating thing a gypsy would do in one of Lorca's poems. Fun! Danger! Freedom! That's the gypsy life as Lorca saw it: something to be desired.