Hello and welcome to the Discourse. The Cask of Amontillado is a short story by Edgar Allan Poe in the November 1846 issue of Godey’s Lady’s Book, an American women’s magazine published from 1830 to 1898. The story employs a first-person point of view, creating an intimate and unreliable narration that enhances the suspense and psychological depth.
The story is often considered the best short story written by Poe. It is a masterful exploration of revenge, pride, and the darker aspects of human nature. The story is very simple but has a lot of verbal and dramatic ironies that increase the reader's interest.
Characters of The Cask of Amontillado:
Montresor is the main character and the narrator of the story. He is a cunning and vengeful individual who seeks to punish Fortunato for an unspecified insult. He exhibits traits of intelligence and manipulation. He mentions that he is telling about an incident that happened some fifty years ago, suggesting that a somewhat older Montresor was never discovered and has not greatly changed his opinion that the crime was justified. Montresor’s reason for revenge remains ambiguous and unclear throughout the story, and it could be a case of mad violence. He is narrating the story to someone with whom he trusts. Fortunato is Montresor’s unsuspecting victim, his friend who has insulted Montresor in some way. It is not clear how wrong Fortunato was or if he deserved the kind of vengeance he suffered. He is a wine connoisseur who is prideful and intoxicated by his own expertise. He represents the folly of arrogance as he blindly trusts Montresor.
Luchesi is a minor character mentioned in the story. He is a rival wine connoisseur to Fortunato, used by Montresor to provoke Fortunato's jealousy and tempt him to taste the wine in his family’s vaults. Fortunato repeatedly insults Luchesi for his lack of intellect but fails to notice any ill-intentions of Montresor and appears even more of a dupable fool.
Summary of The Cask of Amontillado:
The story takes place during the carnival season in an unnamed Italian city. Montresor explains to an unknown audience that someone named Fortunato has injured him repeatedly and has recently insulted him. He says that he can stand no more and vows revenge upon Fortunato. He mentions that has never let Fortunato know of his hatred because he wants to fulfill his vow without placing himself at risk. He also says that his vengeance would not be complete if Fortunato were to retaliate or if Fortunato died without knowing Montresor to be his murderer. Thus, he attempts a perfectly planned murder.
It was the carnival season and much of frivolity and celebrations were going on. One evening, Montresor finds Fortunato in a drunken state. Fortunato is dressed in a jester's outfit, suggesting that he is enjoying the carnival. Montresor approaches and greets Fortunato saying, he was lucky to find him. He obsequiously asks his opinion on a newly acquired cask of Amontillado. He says that he has recently bought a sample of sherry and wishes Fortunato to confirm that it is Amontillado, a rare, precious wine. Montresor knows that Fortunato loves rare wines and tantalizes him with the rare liquor. However, he notices that Fortunato is already drunk, so he tempts him more. He says that perhaps Fortunato might be too busy and that Montresor might have Luchesi taste it instead. This instigates Fortunato who doesn’t like Luchesi much. He insults Luchesi's skill with wines and insists on accompanying Montresor to the vaults to taste the Amontillado. Montresor says that it might not be good for Fortunato because his vaults are quite damp and full of nitre that may cause cold. Fortunato insists on having a chance to taste the rare wine. Montresor then puts on a mask of black silk and cloaks himself and leads Fortunato to his home.
Previously, Montresor told all his servants that he would be late at night and had told them to leave and join the carnival. Thus, when Montresor brings Fortunato to this home, there is no one to see them. He tells him that he has kept the rare wine safe in his vaults back behind the catacombs of his ancestors. He takes two torches and, handing one to Fortunato, leads Fortunato into the Montresor catacombs.
The passageway was damp and full of nitre (Potassium Nitrate). Fortunato was already suffering cold and nitre could have increased his allergic symptoms. Fortunato begins coughing heavily. Montresor shows false concern and offers some Madoc wine to help him. This seeming act of concern and sympathy too was a trick to keep the victim alive long enough to get him to the niche where he will be buried alive. He wonders that ill-health may prompt Fortunato to decline the offer of tasting Amontillado and hence, he again mentions Luchesi to tempt him more. He offers to call bring Luchesi as Fortunato is unwell. Fortunato feels insulted, he abuses Luchesi again and insists on continuing. Fortunato drinks Madoc to the dead, and Montresor drinks to Fortunato's long life.
Fortunato observes the vastness of Montesor’s vaults and Montresor replies that the Montresors were a large family.
Fortunato says that he has forgotten what Montresor's coat of arms looks like. Montesor feels blatantly insulted again as if Fortunato is depreciating the reputation of his family. Montresor belongs to an established family. His house had once been noble and respected but has fallen slightly in status. Fortunato, as his name suggests, has been blessed with good fortune and wealth and Montresor feels he is mocking him. He calmly answers that his family's coat of arms has on it "a huge human foot d'or [foot of gold], in a field azure; the foot crushes a serpent rampant whose fangs are imbedded in the heel" and that the family motto is "Nemo me impune lacessit" (No one attacks me with impunity). The motto and the coat of arms of Montresor’s family suggest that they are historically known for their acts of revenge. As they walk deeper into the catacombs, Fortunato remains drunk and the bells on his costume jingle.
Fortunato finishes the bottle of Madoc and throws it peculiarly. Montresor notices it and asks why he threw the bottle this way. Fortunato again makes a jibe and mentions that Montresor is not good enough to be a Freemason and that is why he doesn’t know the gesture. Montresor again feels offended and claims that he is now a Freemason. Fortunato laughs and says that while he has a trowel in his cloak, Montresor doesn’t have that insignia.
Montresor takes him deeper into the vault where Fortunato sees a small crypt lined with human remains. He notices a small gap in the granite wall. He tries to look into the crypt but because of the strong smell of nitre and dampness, he fails to see. Montresor says that he has kept the Amontillado in the crypt and again asks if he should bring Luchesi to taste. This further instigates Fortunato and he drunkenly walks forth into the gap. Montresor quickly acts and chains him to the granite wall.
Being drunk, Fortunato is almost unaware of what is happening. Montresor mocks Fortunato and asks him again if he is well. Fortunato asks him about Amontillado and Montresor says that he will bring it soon. Then he reveals a pile of building stone and mortar that has been hidden by bones. Montresor then begins to wall up the gap, with Fortunato inside.
Fortunato, being drunk, feels as if Montresor is playing some game. Montresor lays the first tier of the wall before Fortunato revives with a moan from his drunken state. He quickly raises three more tiers of bricks. Fortunato begins feeling the danger and hastily shakes his chain. Montresor continues to raise layers of stone while enjoying the sound of the shaking of chains. By midnight, Montresor almost completes the wall with just one stone to be added to immure Fortunato in the wall. (Immure means to enclose someone in a closed space against their will until their death, or to bury someone alive). Before setting the last stone, Montresor takes the torch and looks up in the gap. He notices that Fortunato is now fully aware of what is happening. Fortunato weakly asks Montresor to end the joke and free him. Montresor mocks him and sets the last stone. He stays there to listen if Fortunato has something to say, but he hears nothing but the jingling of bells of Fortunato’s jester costume. Montresor feels a bit sick but he says that it might be because of dampening and nitre. He readjusts the pile of bones to hide the new wall and comes out.
He mentions that the catacomb remained undisturbed for the next fifty years. Montresor ends his tale by wishing Fortunato a peaceful rest.
Irony in “The Cask of Amontillado”
Verbal Irony - The name "Fortunato" translates to "fortunate" in Italian, which is ironic given his fate. He is anything but fortunate as he meets his demise. Montresor toasts Fortunato's long life while planning his murder. This juxtaposition highlights the deceit behind Montresor’s words.
Situational Irony - The story takes place during a festive carnival, a time of joy and celebration, contrasting sharply with the dark act of murder that occurs in the catacombs. Furthermore, Fortunato is confident in his wine expertise and believes he is in control, yet he is ultimately led to his death by Montresor's cunning.
Dramatic Irony – Fortunato’s dress of Jester with jingling bells is an irony against what he has to suffer. While he is already suffering from cough and Montresor continues to warn him about dampness and nitre in his family’s catacombs, he disregards this advice as Montresor tempts him by mentioning he could bring Luchesi to taste the wine.
So this is it for today. We will continue to discuss the history of American English Literature. Please stay connected. Thanks and Regards!
Hello and welcome to the Discourse. A Poison Tree is a powerful poem by William Blake, included in his "Songs of Experience" collection,published in 1794. The poem explores anger, resentment, and the destructive nature of unexpressed emotions. The speaker of the poem discusses two different approaches to anger. In the first part, openly discussing anger is depicted as a means to overcome it.
In contrast, the second part highlights the risks associated with suppressing anger. The poem employs an extended metaphor, portraying the speaker's anger as a tree that grows and produces poisonous apples. When the speaker's adversary consumes one of these apples, it leads to their demise. Overall, the poem is often seen as an allegory illustrating the perils of bottling up emotions, demonstrating how this behavior can create a cycle of negativity and potentially lead to violence.
The original title of the poem was supposed to be ‘Christian Forbearance’ which suggests that it is a religious theme. The poem serves as a critique of the Church's approach to emotional expression. The poet suggests that this ‘Christian Forbearance,’ that is, the suppression of anger, only brings destruction.
Structure of A Poison Tree:
The poem consists of four quatrains, following a consistent AABB rhyme scheme that adds to its nursery rhyme-like lyrical quality. A Poison Tree is generally regarded as a ballad. Each quatrain contains two rhyming couplets. However, one may divide the entire poem in two parts, the first is the opening couplet while the second part of the poem consists of the remaining fourteen lines. In the opening couplet, the speaker simply expresses his anger and while doing so, simply puts an end to it. In the second part, the speaker discusses how anger grows when it is suppressed. This second part includes the extended metaphor of a poison tree. Vivid imagery is employed to depict the growth of the "poison tree," emphasizing the natural progression of unchecked emotions. Blake used alternating Trochaic Trimeter followed by Iambic Trimeter in the poem. Thus, odd-numbered lines (1,3,5..) are in trochaic trimeter, while the even-numbered lines (2,4,6…) are in iambic trimeter.
While the first three stanzas are presented in the past tense, the poet uses the change of tense in the final stanza moving from past to present. Blake used Anaphora, Enjambment, Sibilance, Imagery, Allusion, Symbolism, Personification, Irony, Contrast, and Extended Metaphor in the poem.
Summary of A Poison Tree:
Stanza 1 Lines 1-4
“I was angry with my friend;
I told my wrath, my wrath did end.
I was angrywith my foe:
I told it not, my wrath did grow. ”
The opening two lines presents the first scenario where the speaker suggests what happened when he was angry with a friend. He discussed it and expressed, and that calmed it, his ‘wrath did end’. Even though he was hurt and he knew that his friend did injustice to him, he tried his best to forget the past and end the feeling of vengeance in his heart. The speaker was angry with his friend, someone with whom the speaker is familiar and, ostensibly, already likes. This may suggest that friendship is necessary for free expression and open communication.
However, the next two lines present the other scenario and the beginning of the second part of the poem. The speaker says that he was angry with an enemy, someone whom he didn’t consider his friend. He wasn’t able to communicate his anger, and he had to suppress it. Thus, it wasn’t resolved.
While we can trust our friends with our true feelings and be honest with them, a foe is someone who – almost by definition – we cannot be so honest with.
This also means that being honest and open is a prerequisite of developing friendship. The very act of the speaker revealing his anger can be seen as making the other person a friend. He chose one, but remained aloof to the other, whom he considered a foe. The two different people could be totally strangers to the speaker. To whom he expressed, became his friend, and to whom, he failed to express and was forced to hide his true feelings, anger, became his foe.
‘Angry’ is the only disyllabic word in the first stanza while all others are monosyllabic, and it is the only word that has been repeated. draws attention to the concept of anger, introducing it as a key theme within the poem. Blake used binary opposites ‘friend’ and ‘foe’ in the first and third lines, “friend” and “foe”are the antithesis of each other and so are “end”and “grow”. The two different approaches to Anger suggest Contrast.
Stanza 2 Lines 5-8
“And I waterd it in fears, Night & morning with my tears: And I sunned it with smiles, And with soft deceitful wiles.”
The poet continues to expand the second scenario. While he suppressed his anger, it remained in his heart, and he continued to nurture the hatred with his fears, spending hours together, crying for the ill that has been caused to him by his enemy. Blake introduces his extended metaphor in this stanza, likening his anger to a tree that he ‘watered’ with fear and resentment. He confesses that he nurtured his anger with his sarcastic smiles, imagining ill and cursing his enemy to go through the same or worse sufferings that he has been through. These sarcastic ‘false’ smiles acted like sunlight helping a tree to grow: by bottling up his anger he made it worse, and by putting on ‘soft deceitful wiles’ (i.e. tricks and cover-ups to hide his true feelings), his anger continued to grow and morphed into something more devious: the need for vengeance.
The speaker confesses his double-facedness, He is smiling at his enemy while all the while he is (inwardly and secretly) plotting his revenge. He did so because he wished to suppress and hide his anger, not to reveal it, and appear friendly to a foe. The intended meaning is that suppressed anger and hatred start to eat away at oneself: hatred always turns inward, corrupting into self-hatred.
While the speaker secretly wished to hurt his foe, and take revenge, he was self-harming. In the final line, the poet claims that the shady strategies (hiding anger) caused the tree to grow in his head. The stanza began with ‘And’ which suggests “Anaphora.’ Stanza 3 Lines 9-12
“And it grew both day and night. Till it bore an apple bright. And my foe beheld it shine. And he knew that it was mine.”
The speaker continues with the extended metaphor and says that the tree continued to develop day and night until it became a fully grown tree with a bright apple. Here, "Bright Apple" illustrates something that invites his enemy to try it. However, misleading tricks like lying and hatred caused this dazzling apple to mature and become a threat to the enemy. The poet used Allusion in this stanza, the bright apple alludes to the fruit of Tree of Knowledge that was forbidden by God in the Garden of Eden.
That dazzling apple was a trap employed by the speaker to have his vengeance against his foe. The bright apple, did attract the foe. However, like the speaker, his foe too was not able to express his own feelings. So, he didn’t try to approach the speaker openly and ask about the dazzling ‘bright apple.’
Stanza 4 Lines 13-16
“And into my garden stole. When the night had veild the pole; In the morning glad I see; My foe outstretchd beneath the tree.”
Since the foe of the speaker was unable to express and demand truth about the ‘bright apple’ directly from the speaker, he decided to enter the garden secretly, he got trapped. One night, he sneaked into the speaker’s garden and ate the apple from this tree.
The speaker turns to present tense as he visits his garden in the morning. There he is; his enemy, dead under the tree of his hatred. He bit the poisoned apple of his vengeance. He is murdered.
The suggestion is that since the speaker was unable to express and vent out his anger, it harmed and corrupted both, his foe and himself. The speaker and his foe are deluded: the speaker because he seems unaware that he has diminished himself by his actions, and the foe because he little realized that the apple he stole was poisoned.
The tree symbolizes the internalization of anger, while the apples represent the consequences of that anger when it is finally released or acted upon.
So this is it for today. We will continue to discuss the History of English Literature. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards!
Sylvia Plath's "Morning Song" is a poignant poem that explores themes of motherhood, identity, and the complexities of love. It is about the transformative experience of becoming a mother.
'Morning Song' is a six-stanza, free-verse poem. Each stanza is an unrhymed tercet, for a total of 18 lines. There is no concrete rhyming scheme or meter.
The poem captures the feelings of a new mother as she reflects on her experiences and emotions. Rather than the mother instantly feeling a deep-rooted attachment to the newborn child, Plath depicts a mother who sees the child as more of an object than a person.
In the first line of ‘Morning Song’, the baby is compared to a “fat gold watch.” This is a very unusual description to connect to a child.
However, the whole poem is about time. The newborn has her own time. Of course, the implication here is that the watch must eventually wind down, and stop; her child will ultimately die. The baby is on her own life course now, and it is different from the life course of the mother.
In the second verse, she describes the child as a “New/ statue./ In a drafty museum”. A new statue that will receive its own stains, chips, and cracks. Mother, father, and midwife become mere “walls”, eclipsed by the new life that has just become the most important thing in the world.
In the next stanza, she clarifies it. “I’m no more your mother/ Than the cloud that distills a mirror to reflect its own/ Slow effacement at the wind’s hand”.
The poet is poignantly aware that her child is a separate entity, and she sees her own mortality reflected in that life.
She realizes that now when she is a mother, she is no more a girl. She describes how she stumbled from bed at the baby’s cry. Then she describes herself as “cow-heavy and floral/ In my Victorian nightgown”. This is an unglamorous, dowdy, and functional description. The mother herself is no more important, the sole purpose of her existence now being to nurture and preserve the child.
She then describes the child as “a cat”, something that is actually alive. This shows that the mother’s feelings are gradually developing for the child. She has yet not granted a human label for the child, yet, the child is alive, not merely a ‘watch’ or ‘statue’.
In the last stanza, the mother describes the child beginning its own, separate journey of life. It tries its “handful of notes”, the “clear vowels” rising “like balloons”. The mother acknowledges that the child has her own independent voice, will tell her own story, and build her own future. The mother cannot control it, the change that is destined to happen, but she can assist.
The poem suggests that the motherly love and devotion is a gradual process. The mother needs time to develop full maternal feelings.
The City and The River by Arun Joshi | Characters, Summary, Analysis
Hello and welcome to the Discourse. "The City and the River" is a notable work by Arun Joshi, an Indian author known for exploring existential themes and the complexities of human relationships. Arun Joshi has been acclaimed as a psychological and philosophical novelist who has made a unique contribution to Indian English fiction. He wrote five novels — The Foreigner (1968), The Strange Case of Billy Biswas (1971), The Apprentice (1974), The Last Labyrinth (1981) which won the prestigious Sahitya Akademi Award, The City and The River (1990) and a collection of short stories, The Survivor (1975).
The City and The River was his last novel and it is different from his other novels because it is an overtly political allegory and satire and focuses on the predicament and quest of not one individual but that of the entire country. The novel focuses on the battle between the victimized citizens and the corrupt, power-hungry rulers. The novel is, in fact, a satire or commentary on the Emergency, applied by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and her son Sanjay Gandhi during 1974-75, which is indeed a black spot in a Democratic country like India. Joshi replicates the actual segment of the Emergency in the form of a parable with the multi-layered conceptions of social identity, ambition, freedom, tyranny, corruption, anxiety, murder, bloodshed, spiritual vision, and so on. On the other hand, the novel also raises questions about modernism against nature, and the issue of environmental deterioration.
Characters of The City and The River:
Great Yogeeshwara is a sage residing in the Himalayas, who sends one of his disciples named The Nameless One to a new developing city at the banks of a river as its teacher and astrologer. Before his departure, the great sage describes the past of the city to his disciples. Grand Master is the ruler of a highly modern and powerful city on the banks of the river. He is a corrupt, cynical, tyrannical ruler. The Grand Master's Council is full of power-hungry sycophants. The Astrologer is the prime councilor of the Grand Master. He is also the prime teacher of the city. The Master of Rallies is a young man who initially belonged to the boatmen community. He had been a brilliant student who always wished to be a boatman but his parents insisted he pursue higher education and become a member of the ruler community. However, the middle class and the upper-class community consider him an alien. The Headman is an experienced woman and the leader of the boatmen community. The Boatmen are the lower class of citizenry who lived on the banks of the river for the ages. While they are part of the city administration, they insist their allegiance is only towards the river whom they consider their lively divine mother. Dharma is a police inspector of the city. He belongs to the middle class who lives in a bricked quarter along with his father. Dharma is a headstrong middle-class man who values competence and honesty, however, he finds that such morals have no place in the higher-class echelon. Shailaja is his fiancee. Shailaja’s brother is a mystical revolutionary who tries to help the boatmen when they suffer persecution. Vasu is a brave journalist who raised questions against the Grand Master and his council and faces the ire of the administration. Bhumiputra, or Bhoma is the young iconoclast teacher of the boatmen who gathers the boatmen to resist the tyranny of the Grand Master. Though he is a rebel, he adheres to the philosophy of non-violence and sacrifice. The Professor is the teacher of Bhoma. He works for the administration but he opposes the ills and corruption of the system. He represents the intellectual class who tries to bring awareness among the masses against the ills of administration. The River is the protagonist of the novel and it represents nature, while the City is the antagonist which represents corruption, pollution, political and social ills of the rich, ruling class. The story suggests that ultimately, nature will bring an equilibrium to end the tyranny, evil, pollution, and corruption of the rich, ruling class.
Summary of The City and The River:
The novel begins as the Great Sage Yogeeshwara summons his disciple The Nameless One and asks him to prepare for a journey. He tells him that now when he is grown up and well-educated, he must go to the uprising City at the banks of the river originating from the mountain where they reside.
The Nameless One is unaware of the city and his own past. The Great Sage tells him that he must be the teacher of the City and guide the people of the city in a righteous Dharmic manner. Then he begins telling the history of the City where The Nameless One is asked to go and serve as the Teacher.
The Great City on the banks of the Great River was ruled by a tyrannical Grand Master. He lived in a white-domed palace atop the picturesque Seven Hills. On these hills stood the splendid mansions and offices of the self-serving sycophant ruling elite. Next in rank came the docile brick people living in brick colonies. Lowest of all were the despised mud-people. The most rebellious of them were the boatmen who bowed to the River alone and refused to salute the Grand Master. Though there was no king of the city, the Grand Master was the most powerful and rich industrialist and politician who handled the administration of the entire city.
The Grand Master was aware of an ancient prophecy according to which, a new king would rise to rule the City. His prime councilor, the Astrologer informed him that according to his studies of stars, the time for the fulfillment of the ancient prophecy was about to come. The Grand Master was already a greedy, totalitarian, and corrupt administrator but this information further ignited the greed of him to be the supreme ruler, the king of the city to whom everyone must bow. The Grand Master and his Astrologer announced the set of three draconian laws, - one, all citizens are to owe complete allegiance to the Grand Master; second, to ensure wealth for all, there shall be only one child to a mother; third, those disobeying the Grand Master are to be ruthlessly punished. (The second law was a reference to the forced sterilization drive (Nasbandi Campaign) initiated by Sanjay Gandhi in 1976 to control the Population).
These laws created a rift between the ruler and the ruled. However, most of the upper class was sycophant and submissive to the Grand Master and the middle class hardly had any tooth to disobey. Yet, some people registered their opposition to the Triple Laws. The Professor, the police inspector Dharma, his fiancee Shailaja, and journalist Vasu were among them. The lower class vehemently tried to oppose these draconian laws and thus, the Grand Master announced the fearsome Era of Ultimate Greatness (reference to Emergency). Police forces were used to intimidate the masses. Even the despised mud-people began bowing down to the Grand Master and vowed their complete allegiance, but the boatmen refused to do so, they considered the holy river their mother and Goddess. Although they are sub-marginalized, bourgeois, or lower-class people, they are satisfied with their condition, since they are completely devoid of any psychological problem, ennui, frustration, or mental conflicts. They preferred to remain free and valued their autonomy.
The Astrologer tried to make a peaceful deal between the administration and the boatmen community. He addressed the boatmen community and said that God sent the Grand Master to serve the people. To protect the city he must be the king and every citizen must vow their allegiance to the king considering him the father and guardian of the citizenry. The Headman, a woman, head of boatmen, argued firmly on the matter of her allegiance and said, “We have no quarrel with the Grand Master and we have no quarrel with you. If it is a matter of allegiance, our allegiance is only to the river and cannot be shared, that is all that I want to say.”
This strong-headed refusal further angered the Grand Master who was not prepared for any resistance. He foolishly decided to reprimand the boatmen community and apply force (police and army) against them. The boatmen were poor people with their bows and arrows. They couldn’t face the guns and tanks of the army. The situation became so drastic that even the boatmen began to sway and submit to the tyranny to save their lives. However, the Headman maintained her allegiance to the river and every boatman followed her. There is resistance from the poor and middle-class citizens, mostly in the form of non-violent civil disobedience. Bhumiputra, or Bhoma began gathering the boatmen and other mud-people and announced civil disobedience against the tyrannical administration. The Grand Master was not ready for this. He declared that Bhumiputra was a traitor against the city and must be imprisoned. It became difficult for Bhoma to save himself, he had to hide from the police and the army.
As governmental tyranny reaches its acme, freedom of expression is taken away. The Professor, the representative of the intellectual class, thought of an alternate means to broadcast the truth about the administration and the rebel leader Master Bhoma. His initiative named 'The Lottery Stall’ was supported by some selfless, fearless citizens including Dharma and Shailaja. The ingenious Lottery Stall enterprise was crushed, but Bhoma’s parable was told among millions, and the ruling class was ridiculed. The Grand Master then enforced a 'dragnet' - a cluster of self-multiplying laws suggesting limitless tyranny. Brutality was unleashed upon commoners.
The shattered and dilapidated boatmen decided to disagree with the Headmen and take the oath of loyalty to the Grand Master. At such a desperate time, Bhoma returned from his hideout and addressed the boatmen about the transience of despots and exhorted them to overcome their fear of the Grand Master. He said, "What does your soul care if a man is powerful and a man commands the guns? Guns cannot kill you, my brothers and sisters. ....If you choose the death of your soul above the death of your body, then no one...can help you." His words invigorated the boatmen who were ready to sacrifice their bodies to protect the reverence of their mother River and their souls.
This re-energized opposition from the boatmen prompted the Grand Master. One night, when the boatmen and other mud people were sleeping, the police force of the Grand Master raided them and killed two hundred boatmen in the hall when they were sleeping. This angered the remaining rebels who vowed to take revenge. Bhoma tried to calm them and said they must remain non-violent. He knew that violence ultimately leads toward the destruction of humanity, but the Headwoman disagreed. She wanted to take revenge for the humiliation and killing of their brethren. Hence, the boatmen began the route of violent opposition.
The Grand Master declared mass imprisonment. Many of the common people were imprisoned and kept in drastic conditions in the Gold Mines, an underground jail facility. The Professor and Bhoma too were arrested and so was the Headman. The Professor and Headman were old enough to fail against the drastic jail rule and perished. The Heaman was forcibly blinded by pushing hot iron rods in her eyes. The professor opposed this brutality and went on fast until death, and died. After their death, Bhoma became the main leader of the rebels and the boatmen. However, he was an adherent of non-violence.
In the absence of an able leader, the resistance from boatmen weakened. A new Supreme Council was secretly instituted. It crowned the Grand Master as King and the City was transformed into an absolute dynastic dictatorship of the elite. All democratic practices were abolished. The Great Sage of the Mountain realized what was coming, so he sent a Hermit to visit the City. The remaining boatmen gathered and announced war against the new king. But their bows and arrows were no match to the guns and tanks. The army burnt them alive and threw their bodies in the river.
The new council decided to celebrate the coronation of the new King.
On the pedestal, the King’s son announced Bhoma and his associates as traitors and killed them. The mother River couldn’t bear all this and she got alive.
Most of the boatmen were killed by the time the Hermit from the Mountain reached the city. He found the child of a dead boatman and anointed him as the next teacher of the city. At the same time, a raft rose from the river bed and took the child and the city's horoscope to the Mountains where Yogeeshwara lived. The River was violent and flooded the City. The Seven Hills crumbled. The King and his family perished along with all the sycophants. It rained for seven days and seven nights and the City disappeared. On the eighth day, the sun rose over a boundless ocean.
It took time for the land to rise again, and humans began to gather at the place to build a new city. Meanwhile, the boatman’s child was groomed and taught by the Great Sage. That child was called The Nameless One.
Yogeeshwara informs him that he is the same child who came from the drowned city and tells him to help the people to establish the city again. He exhorts The Nameless One to remain righteous and keep striving for the victory of good over evil.
So this is it for today. We will continue to discuss the history of Indian English literature. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards!
When we think of classic literature, we generally envision dense, forbidding tomes that take weeks, if not months, to complete. However, not all masterpieces demand such a substantial time commitment. Some of the most deep and enduring pieces of literature are unexpectedly short but powerful. These books, despite their modest length, leave a lasting impression, conveying powerful themes and telling fascinating stories in just a few pages. Here are 10 classic books that, while brief, will stick with you long after you've finished reading them.
1st"The Metamorphosis" by Franz Kafka ~~ 100 Pages
Explores themes of alienation and identity.
Follows Gregor Samsa, who wakes up transformed into a giant insect.
2nd “Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck ~~ 107 pages
Explores the themes of friendship and loneliness, disability and discrimination, and the fragility of hope during the Great Depression.
Follows George Milton and Lennie Small, who dream of owning their own piece of land. The narrative follows their struggles for survival and their friendship in a harsh world.
3rd"Animal Farm" by George Orwell ~~ 112 Pages
A satirical allegoric tale about the rise of totalitarianism.
Uses farm animals to represent the Russian Revolution and its aftermath.
4th"The Stranger" by Albert Camus ~~ 123 Pages
Addresses existentialism, alienation, and absurdism.
Centers on Meursault, whose indifferent reaction to life leads to profound consequences.
5th"The Old Man and the Sea" by Ernest Hemingway ~~ 160 Pages
A story of endurance and struggle against nature.
Chronicles an old fisherman’s battle with a giant marlin in the Gulf steam.
6th “Breakfast at Tiffany's” by Truman Capote ~~ 160 Pages
Explores the themes of identity and self-exploration, love and relationships, while contrasting Materialism vs Authenticity. Holly Golightly, a young woman in her twenties who is living in a New York City brownstone. The story is narrated by an unnamed writer who becomes fascinated by Holly, his eccentric neighbor.
7th "The Turn of the Screw" by Henry James ~~ 122 Pages
A psychological horror story that delves into ambiguity and perception.
Involves a governess and her eerie experiences with children in a remote estate.
8th"Heart of Darkness" by Joseph Conrad ~~ 160 Pages
A journey into the Congo River basin, exploring imperialism and human nature.
Presents a critique of European colonialism.
9th"The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde" by Robert Louis Stevenson ~~ 128 Pages
A gothic novella that explores the duality of human nature through the relationship between the kind Dr. Jekyll and his sinister alter ego, Mr. Hyde.
10th "The Pearl" by John Steinbeck
A tale about a poor pearl diver who finds a magnificent pearl, leading to greed, tragedy, and a moral lesson about wealth and happiness.
Hello and welcome to the Discourse. The Thorn is a poem by William Wordsworth written in 1798 and published in the first edition of Lyrical Ballads (1798). It is a long poem famous for the issue of the speaker’s character who appears to be an unreliable narrator speaking of some gossip he has heard of. The poem is narrated by an unnamed, unreliable speaker who directly addresses the reader in a gossiping tone, telling the story of a destitute woman whose lover abandoned her and left her with a child. While the narrator is unreliable, the poem suggests how society can destroy the individual by robbing her of her innocence and then condemning her. The character of the destitute woman in the poem shows unyielding willpower, endurance of trauma, and a preserved sense of individual self.
Structure of The Thorn:
It is a long poem with 253 lines composed in 23 stanzas. Each stanza has 11 lines and all lines of every stanza are of eight syllables (iambic tetrameter) except for the 4th and 9th lines which are of six syllables (iambic trimeter). Thus, the complex structure of stanzas offers a lyrical ballad with a fast-paced meter. The elaborate rhyme scheme is ABCBDEFFEGG. The narration is by a First-person unreliable speaker who conveys the thoughts and beliefs of others in a gossiping manner.
The narrator mentions that the name of the destitute woman was Martha Ray, which can be an allusion to the British singer Martha Ray who was murdered in 1779. The poem explores the themes of social psychology, scandals, gossiping, death, and nature. The poet used Metaphors, Similes, Alliteration, Assonance, Metonymy, Synecdoche, Personification, Imagery, and Hyperbole in the poem.
Summary of the Thorn:
Stanza 1, Lines 1-11
“There is a Thorn—it looks so old,
In truth, you’d find it hard to say
How it could ever have been young,
It looks so old and grey.
Not higher than a two years' child
It stands erect, this aged Thorn;
No leaves it has, no prickly points;
It is a mass of knotted joints,
A wretched thing forlorn.
It stands erect, and like a stone
With lichens is it overgrown.”
The speaker begins by describing an old and overgrown thorn-bush. He explains how remarkably old the thorn bush appears. It is so old that it is difficult to believe it was ever alive and green. The thorn has no leaves or prickles and is a large mass covered with lichens. Lichens are a kind of symbiotic fungus that grows on decaying wood. While the speaker is unnamed and unknown, Wordsworth added a note in the Lyrical Ballad which suggests that the narrator of The Thorn is a mariner, a sea captain. He is not from the area he is describing and thus, he may be talking of some unreliable gossip.
The speaker describes the thorn as a withering plant, almost dying. The narrator repeats the word ‘old.’ Another word ‘erect’ has been repeated, first to offer a comparison to suggest the height of the dying old bush to a two-year-old child, and then to offer the Simile, ‘It stands erect, and like a stone’, as if it is a tombstone. The narrator is talking about something sinister, decaying, and death. The bush has no leaves nor any ‘prickly points’ (alliteration). The only thing that appears living is the lichens overgrowing on the thorn. However, the fungus itself suggests decaying. The poet used the words ‘wretched,’ and ‘forlorn’ that personifies the thorn, which is lonely and unhappy.
Stanza 2 Lines 12-22
“Like rock or stone, it is o’ergrown,
With lichens to the very top,
And hung with heavy tufts of moss,
A melancholy crop:
Up from the earth these mosses creep,
And this poor Thorn they clasp it round
So close, you’d say that they are bent
With plain and manifest intent
To drag it to the ground;
And all have joined in one endeavour
To bury this poor Thorn for ever.”
The speaker continues describing the disheveled and deprecating situation of the thorn-bush. It still stands like a rock (simile) but captured by the lichens and the moss that has captured the thorn trying to bury it in the ground.
The narrator again suggests that the thorn is like a tombstone, a rock. The narrator personifies the thorn again and it offers a dreadful image. The lichens have grown all over the thorn bush. If the thorn is a person, he is covered from head to toe with this invasive fungus. The moss too has overgrown to ‘heavy tufts’, the thorn bush, shackled by the lichens is weighed down by the moss and is exhausted.
The moss is presented as a destructive sinister force that creeps up from the earth to weigh down the thorn. The narrator than personifies the lichens and the moss too as foes to the thorn with an intent to bury him. “Poor Thorn”
Stanza 3 Lines 23-33
“High on a mountain’s highest ridge,
Where oft the stormy winter gale
Cuts like a scythe, while through the clouds
It sweeps from vale to vale;
Not five yards from the mountain path,
This Thorn you on your left espy;
And to the left, three yards beyond,
You see a little muddy pond
Of water—never dry,
Though but of compass small, and bare
To thirsty suns and parching air.”
In the third stanza, the speaker describes the landscape around the thorn to give an idea about its location. The thorn is located high on top of a mountain where stormy winter winds often blow, sweeping from one vale (or valley) to another. It is a vulnerable spot as the thorn must be facing cold, harsh winds again. He further suggests that the thorn is located near the mountain path and there is a small pond that always contains some water. But often that water is not enough to quench anyone’s thirst.
The narrator describes the thorn as a vulnerable, old, dying, decaying person facing the harshest conditions. The wind is so harsh and cold that it “cuts like a scythe,” (simile) offering the image of the thorn bush facing a violent mad murderer.
Stanza 4 Lines 34-44
“And, close beside this aged Thorn,
There is a fresh and lovely sight,
A beauteous heap, a hill of moss,
Just half a foot in height.
All lovely colours there you see,
All colours that were ever seen;
And mossy network too is there,
As if by hand of lady fair
The work had woven been;
And cups, the darlings of the eye,
So deep is their vermilion dye.”
In the fourth stanza, the narrator suddenly shifts the tone. He describes how a lovely heap of moss of different beautiful colors has made a small hill near the thorn. Unlike the moss that has captured the thorn, it appears beautiful and friendly. "As if by hand of lady fair/The work had woven been" (simile)—the speaker compares the elaborate design of the moss to the carefully woven tapestry that a maiden might create.
After describing the harshness of nature in the first three stanzas, the narrator now describes the beauty and delicacy of nature in the same landscape. This moss is different from the one that is trying to bury the thorn. The stanza offers the contrast of beauty and ugliness, delicacy, and harshness of human nature in close proximity.
Stanza 5 Lines 45-55
“Ah me! what lovely tints are there
Of olive green and scarlet bright,
In spikes, in branches, and in stars,
Green, red, and pearly white!
This heap of earth o’ergrown with moss,
Which close beside the Thorn you see,
So fresh in all its beauteous dyes,
Is like an infant’s grave in size,
As like as like can be:
But never, never any where,
An infant’s grave was half so fair.”
In this stanza, the speaker further describes the beauty of the moss and nature besides the decaying and deadly thorn bush. There are colorful hues surrounding this little heap of earth (or mud) covered by moss. It appears so fresh and lively with all hues of colors. The ‘olive-green’ suggests vitality as in green plants and the ‘scarlet bright’ suggests lively blood, this description suggests an image of life. The other hue that the speaker mentions is ‘pearly white’ which suggests innocence, purity, and holiness. The speaker then mentions that the heap of mud is not much in size, and it " Is like an infant's grave in size" (simile)--the heap of the earth is compared to the size of an infant's grave and that justifies the hues of red, green, and pearly white, a symbol of innocence. The speaker has just compared yet not confirmed that it is indeed an infant’s grave, but if it is, it is the loveliest grave site of its kind. There is a macabre irony in the speaker's likening of the beautiful moss heap to a child's grave.
Stanza 6 Lines 56-66
“Now would you see this aged Thorn,
This pond, and beauteous hill of moss,
You must take care and choose your time
The mountain when to cross.
For oft there sits between the heap,
So like an infant’s grave in size,
And that same pond of which I spoke,
A Woman in a scarlet cloak,
And to herself she cries,
‘Oh misery! oh misery!
Oh woe is me! oh misery!’
The speaker further describes the vivid landscape while inviting the reader to visit the site and see it. However, he warns that if the reader is curious enough and wants to visit, he must be careful. The place is often visited by a mysterious lady who is seen sitting beside the heap of earth near the pond that the speaker discussed before, just a few yards away from the thorn. The woman wears a scarlet cloak and continues to wail and cry. The speaker warns the reader to avoid the lady if they seek to visit the place.
The poet used capitalization of the words ‘Thorn’ and ‘Woman’ which suggests that both are important for the poem. In fact, the thorn is a metaphor for the same woman whose identity is not revealed till now.
Stanza 7 Lines 67-77
“At all times of the day and night
This wretched Woman thither goes;
And she is known to every star,
And every wind that blows;
And there, beside the Thorn, she sits
When the blue daylight’s in the skies,
And when the whirlwind’s on the hill,
Or frosty air is keen and still,
And to herself she cries,
‘Oh misery! oh misery!
Oh woe is me! oh misery!’ ”
The speaker further elaborated on the lady who often visits the landscape. She is a frequent visitor who is often seen sitting beside the thorn. She can be seen during the day and the night. She visits the site even during the harsh season with a ‘whirlwind’ and when the ‘frosty air’ is still. She is such a frequent visitor that every element of nature—from the stars to the wind—knows her. And every time she visits, she is heard crying “Oh misery! Oh misery! Oh woe is me!” (Repetition). This suggests that the woman in the scarlet cloak has some emotional connection with the place, the thorn, and the heap of earth which appears like an infant’s grave. The scarlet color of her cloak also represents love and passion. She keeps repeating the word misery in this beautiful setting, which again suggests that nature is both beautiful and harsh. The scarlet may also represent blood and murder.
Stanza 8 Lines 78-88
“Now wherefore, thus, by day and night,
In rain, in tempest, and in snow,
Thus to the dreary mountain-top
Does this poor Woman go?
And why sits she beside the Thorn
When the blue daylight’s in the sky
Or when the whirlwind’s on the hill,
Or frosty air is keen and still,
And wherefore does she cry?—
O wherefore? wherefore? tell me why
Does she repeat that doleful cry?”
The speaker further concentrates on the woman and wonders why she keeps visiting this remote site in the harshest of the weather. He again mentions the dreadful site around the thorn bush where the woman often visits and sits and he asks the reader to suggest to him why does the woman keep crying? He describes the Woman as ‘wretched’ and ‘poor’ as he previously did to describe the Thorn. The speaker suggests that the woman is as lamentable as the thorn. In some way, they share a sad connection.
Stanza 9 Lines 89-99
“I cannot tell; I wish I could;
For the true reason no one knows:
But would you gladly view the spot,
The spot to which she goes;
The hillock like an infant’s grave,
The pond—and Thorn, so old and grey;
Pass by her door—’tis seldom shut—
And if you see her in her hut—
Then to the spot away!
I never heard of such as dare
Approach the spot when she is there.”
The speaker asked why the woman keeps visiting the site and crying there and he now says that he doesn’t know the reason behind it because nobody knows. This suggests that the speaker is an unreliable narrator. He is curious about knowing the secrets of the woman, whom nobody knows with certainty. This suggests that all the descriptions he has given thus far could be myths, falsehoods, or gossip. The speaker exhorts the reader to visit the site and see by themselves but insists they must visit when the woman is not there. He further asserts that the woman lives in a nearby hut. He says that if someone wishes to visit the site, they must check the door of the hut of the woman which often remains open. If the woman is present, they must run away because he has never heard of anyone visiting the graveyard in the presence of the woman.
Stanza 10 Lines 100-111
“But wherefore to the mountain-top
Can this unhappy Woman go,
Whatever star is in the skies,
Whatever wind may blow?”
“Full twenty years are past and gone
Since she (her name is Martha Ray)
Gave with a maiden’s true good-will
Her company to Stephen Hill;
And she was blithe and gay,
While friends and kindred all approved
Of him whom tenderly she loved.”
In this stanza, the speaker describes the woman as far as he knows or has heard of. He has confirmed that he is an unreliable narrator and doesn’t know the woman with certainty. Furthermore, since nobody visits the site when she is around, it's hard to say if there is actually a woman or if it is just gossip. He reveals that the woman’s name is Martha Ray. Twenty years earlier, she was a loyal maiden who loved a man named Stephen Hill. She was happy with this man, all her friends and family approved of him. He mentions her name as if it were an afterthought again suggesting that the speaker is unreliable.
Stanza 11 Lines 112-121
“And they had fixed the wedding day,
The morning that must wed them both;
But Stephen to another Maid
Had sworn another oath;
And, with this other Maid, to church
Unthinking Stephen went—
Poor Martha! on that woeful day
A pang of pitiless dismay
Into her soul was sent;
A fire was kindled in her breast,
Which might not burn itself to rest.”
In this stanza, the speaker further reveals the details of the mysterious woman in a scarlet cloak named Martha Ray. She loved a man named Stephen Hill and their wedding day was fixed. However, the man betrays her for another ‘Maid’ and marries another woman while leaving ‘Poor Martha’ alone. That filled Martha’s heart with sadness, misery, and a sense of vengeance. The speaker identifies the other woman as “another Maid,” using a generic term that implies that a man can easily exchange one woman for another. This other Maid remains unnamed but the speaker used capitalization to mention her, which suggests that this other woman is important to the story, like the ‘Thorn’ and the ‘Woman’.
The speaker describes Stephen as ‘Unthinking.’ It may mean carefree like Martha was when she fell in love with Stephen. Romanticism suggests that humankind is innocent and capable of making mistakes. Martha was carefree when she fell in love with Stephen, in the same way, it might be the case that Stephen too fell in love with ‘another Maid’ in a carefree manner, without thinking much about Martha. However, he was carefree to the point of being careless, and he consciously chose to betray Martha after impregnating her. This makes Martha the victim and Stephen the culprit. Just like an ugly thorn bush spoils the beautiful surroundings, Stephen ruined Martha’s beautiful carefree life.
Stanza 12 Lines 122-132
“They say, full six months after this,
While yet the summer leaves were green,
She to the mountain-top would go,
And there was often seen.
What could she seek?—or wish to hide?
Her state to any eye was plain;
She was with child, and she was mad;
Yet often was she sober sad
From her exceeding pain.
O guilty Father—would that death
Had saved him from that breach of faith!”
The speaker further reveals that while he doesn’t know the woman named Martha Ray, he has heard about her from other people. ‘They say,’ that after six months she was betrayed, she began visiting the mountain-top, the landscape he described earlier, where there is the thorn. He wonders why she began visiting there, was she trying to search for something, or was she trying to hide something from others? Then he reveals the true reason for the misery of that poor sad woman. She was pregnant and forlorn. Her beloved had betrayed her and had married another Maid. She was not only emotionally disturbed but was suffering physical pain. The speaker then accuses God of the misery of the woman. He says that it would have been better had Stephen died instead of betraying poor Martha. Death would have saved his soul, and Martha would not be in her unfortunate state.
Stanza 13 Lines 133-143
“Sad case for such a brain to hold
Communion with a stirring child!
Sad case, as you may think, for one
Who had a brain so wild!
Last Christmas-eve we talked of this,
And grey-haired Wilfred of the glen
Held that the unborn infant wrought
About its mother’s heart, and brought
Her senses back again:
And, when at last her time drew near,
Her looks were calm, her senses clear.”
The speaker sympathizes with poor Martha in this stanza. He says that it was indeed a ‘sad case’ for ‘such a brain’ to have a baby in her womb when she was already suffering the pain of betrayal and abuse. She was physically and mentally weak at that time. The speaker then mentions another character, an old man named Wilfred, who once said that the child in her womb began to soothe Martha and by the time she was near delivering the child, she began appearing calmer and sober. Now it is clear that the speaker is an unreliable narrator who is talking about a woman he doesn’t know personally, but feels sentimental by her story that he has heard of from different people.
Stanza 14 Lines 144-154
“More know I not, I wish I did,
And it should all be told to you;
For what became of this poor child
No mortal ever knew;
Nay—if a child to her was born
No earthly tongue could ever tell;
And if ’twas born alive or dead,
Far less could this with proof be said;
But some remember well,
That Martha Ray about this time
Would up the mountain often climb.”
The speaker again stresses that he doesn’t know about Martha anymore and says that if he had known her, he would have told more about her. But then, he continues the story based on the rumors he has heard. He says that while Martha was pregnant and was about to deliver the child, nobody knows what happened to her baby. Did she give birth to the baby, and if she did, was the baby born alive or dead? Nobody knows what happened to the baby, but many people remember that Martha would climb to the mountaintop when the baby was due.
Stanza 15 Lines 155-165
“And all that winter, when at night
The wind blew from the mountain-peak,
’Twas worth your while, though in the dark,
The churchyard path to seek:
For many a time and oft were heard
Cries coming from the mountain head:
Some plainly living voices were;
And others, I’ve heard many swear,
Were voices of the dead:
I cannot think, whate’er they say,
They had to do with Martha Ray.”
In this stanza, the speaker keeps up the mystery around the baby of poor Martha. He says that the following winter when she was about to deliver the baby, many people claim that they heard cries at night, coming from the mountain top where Martha often used to visit. Some of the voices that were heard seemed to come from living people, but some locals swear that other voices belonged to the dead. The speaker then suggests that he doesn’t believe what the people say and he doesn’t believe that the voices of the dead had anything to do with Martha Ray.
Stanza 16 Lines 166-176
“But that she goes to this old Thorn,
The Thorn which I described to you,
And there sits in a scarlet cloak,
I will be sworn is true.
For one day with my telescope,
To view the ocean wide and bright,
When to this country first I came,
Ere I had heard of Martha’s name,
I climbed the mountain’s height:—
A storm came on, and I could see
No object higher than my knee.”
The speaker mentioned in the previous stanza that he doesn’t believe the rumors about Martha Ray. But he stresses in this stanza that it is true that she often visits the old Thorn that he previously described and it is true. He repeats that she sits by the thorn in a scarlet cloak, and he knows this for a fact because he once headed to the mountaintop himself. Having just arrived in the region, he wished to observe the ocean through his telescope. However, when he reached the mountaintop, a storm prevented him from seeing beyond his immediate surroundings.
Stanza 17 Lines 177-187
“ ’Twas mist and rain, and storm and rain:
No screen, no fence could I discover;
And then the wind! in sooth, it was
A wind full ten times over.
I looked around, I thought I saw
A jutting crag,—and off I ran,
Head-foremost, through the driving rain,
The shelter of the crag to gain;
And, as I am a man,
Instead of jutting crag, I found
A Woman seated on the ground.”
The speaker further describes his first visit to the mountain when he arrived at this place. He says he was overwhelmed by mist, rain, and heavy winds. Under those stormy conditions, he could not find a refuge right away. As he looked around, he believed he saw a crag, or projecting piece of rock, that might shield him from the elements. However, once he ran toward the crag in the pouring rain, he was startled to find a woman seated on the ground.
Stanza 18 Lines 188-198
“I did not speak—I saw her face;
Her face!—it was enough for me;
I turned about and heard her cry,
‘Oh misery! oh misery!’
And there she sits, until the moon
Through half the clear blue sky will go;
And when the little breezes make
The waters of the pond to shake,
As all the country know,
She shudders, and you hear her cry,
‘Oh misery! oh misery!’ ”
The speaker further reveals his experience when he visited the mountain top for the first time. He saw the woman in the scarlet cloak in such a harsh weather when he could not see anything beyond a few feet because of rain, frost, and winds. He was startled, and a bit nervous. But when he saw her face, he could feel and understand her pain. He turned around and decided to leave her alone when he heard her crying ‘Oh misery! Oh misery!’
The speaker then says that the woman keeps sitting in the same spot for the whole night and day. Whenever the breeze disturbs the water in the little pond, the woman cries again.
Stanza 19 Lines 199-209
“But what’s the Thorn? and what the pond?
And what the hill of moss to her?
And what the creeping breeze that comes
The little pond to stir?”
“I cannot tell; but some will say
She hanged her baby on the tree;
Some say she drowned it in the pond,
Which is a little step beyond:
But all and each agree,
The little Babe was buried there,
Beneath that hill of moss so fair.”
The speaker now raises the question about the connection between the Thorn, the pond, the small hill of moss, the heap of earth covered by the moss, and the woman in the scarlet cloak whose name is Martha. He further asks why the ‘creeping breeze’ continues to stir the water in the pond. And again, he immediately answers all this but adds that he doesn’t know if it is true or certain but he has heard people saying all this. Some people say that after giving birth, Martha hanged the baby on the tree (poor Thorn), while some other people say that she drowned the baby in the pond. Regardless of what different people say, they all agree that after killing, Martha buried the baby under the ‘heap of earth’ covered by the moss. The baby is lying dead beneath the mossy hill. Thus, the speaker ascertains that the ‘heap of earth’ is certainly the grave of an innocent child.
Stanza 20 Lines 210-220
“I’ve heard, the moss is spotted red
With drops of that poor infant’s blood;
But kill a new-born infant thus,
I do not think she could!
Some say, if to the pond you go,
And fix on it a steady view,
The shadow of a babe you trace,
A baby and a baby’s face,
And that it looks at you;
Whene’er you look on it, ’tis plain
The baby looks at you again.”
The speaker continues to delve into the mystery behind the baby of Martha who was presumably killed by herself. He continues to tell the gossip he hears from so many people. He says he heard the moss is spotted red with the infant’s blood. Suggesting that instead of hanging or drowning, Martha might have killed the baby using a dagger or scythe. However, he immediately interjects that he doesn’t believe such rumors as he doesn’t believe Martha could do such a frightening and dreadful act.
However, he shows his support to other rumors that she might have drowned the baby in the pond and says that some people claim to be able to see the baby’s reflection in the pond when looking closely. He insists that each time someone looks upon the reflection, the baby stares right back.
Stanza 21 Lines 221-231
“And some had sworn an oath that she
Should be to public justice brought;
And for the little infant’s bones
With spades they would have sought.
But instantly the hill of moss
Before their eyes began to stir!
And, for full fifty yards around,
The grass—it shook upon the ground!
Yet all do still aver
The little Babe lies buried there,
Beneath that hill of moss so fair.”
While the speaker has shown his sympathy for ‘poor Martha’, he claims that not all people believe she is the innocent victim. Some people claim that she murdered the baby and she must be brought to public justice. When they raised their voice against Martha, they proposed that they would dig up the heap of earth to find the dead body and bones of the baby to prove that she actually murdered the child. However, the speaker claims that as soon as some such people suggested digging up the hill to reveal the dead body of the child, there were tremors in the ground as the hill began to shake. Soon the whole area surrounding the hill began to shake as if an earthquake was about to come. The speaker suggests that while some of the people were determined to punish Martha for what they assumed she did to the baby, nature decided to protect her. People soon gave up the idea to dig the hill and find the body of her baby. Yet, some people are still angry and they swear she killed the baby and buried her beneath the Thorn.
Stanza 22 Lines 231-242
“I cannot tell how this may be,
But plain it is the Thorn is bound
With heavy tufts of moss that strive
To drag it to the ground;
And this I know, full many a time,
When she was on the mountain high,
By day, and in the silent night,
When all the stars shone clear and bright,
That I have heard her cry,
‘Oh misery! oh misery!
Oh woe is me! oh misery!’ ”
The speaker again shows his bewilderment about all these rumors and suggests that he is an unreliable narrator as he knows nothing certain about what he just expressed. However, he tries to bring a degree of certainty about what he said and claims that there certainly is a poor Thorn that it is weighed down by heavy tufts of moss. He also claims to know with full certainty that Martha may often be found on the mountaintop day and night, wailing about her misery, as he himself has heard her crying “‘Oh misery! oh misery! Oh woe is me! oh misery!’ ”
There are many symbols in the poem that the poet uses. The Thorn itself is a symbol suggesting the joy and sadness, the youth and decaying that one may experience in their own life. The thorn symbolizes grief and affliction that keeps growing as Martha experiences betrayal and her love, innocence, and truthfulness are lost. The thorn symbolizes that even the most beautiful and delicate things, like moss, may prove to be deadly, the moss trying to bury the thorn underneath.
The ‘beauteous Heap’ suggests that it is indeed the grave of the innocent baby of Martha and that is why it glows with hues of green, red, and pearl white. That is why Martha keeps visiting the place and she cries while remembering her baby and what happened to him.
The scarlet cloak that Martha wears is also a symbol. The scarlet color symbolizes love and passion. It also symbolizes seduction and adultery, (remember Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter). Also, the scarlet color symbolizes, blood and murder. In a way, the speaker tries to give weight to the rumors he has heard about the killing of the baby by her own mother.
The speaker tries to suggest that while society fooled Martha Ray and betrayed her, after impregnating her, they do not sympathize with her. There was no way that poor forlorn woman could have afforded to groom the baby as a bastard, without a father, in such a harsh society. There is no evidence that she actually killed the baby, she might have given birth to a stillborn child. Yet, some people despise her and wish to punish her. The moss symbolizes society, fungus, trying to weigh down and bury the Thorn, Martha, or the individual.
So this is it for today. We will continue to discuss the history of English literature. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards!
