So, I'm sitting in Starbucks reading "The Thorn" and I come across this line "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". I haven't completely decided what that means, but what an interesting metaphor!
Oooh. That's because it actually is an infant's grave.
It's interesting that the poem has quotation marks and there are two speakers, but I can't figure out who exactly is speaking. I am guessing one is a man who recently moved to the town near the weeping woman and the other is someone just listening to him. The poem is still sort of centered around this thorn next to what is supposed to be the infant's grave. It seems to a protector of the secret the weeping woman is keeping. Or it could be something evil that keeps the Martha Ray coming back to that spot. Or it is the prickly love she fell prey to.
I have a lot of "or"s for this post.
I had a similar confusion when I was reading this. I really enjoyed the overall, quite obvious themes. I agree with your point, I think the thorn can represent both something evil that prevents the mother from returning as well as a protector. Or perhaps a sort of protection from the mother, on behalf of the baby? I'm really upset that I missed class on Thursday because I really wanted to take a closer look at the readings we had. But overall, I really liked this poem the best.
ReplyDeleteAfter discussing this poem in class I can't help but wonder if the thorn is being used as a visual representation of what separates Martha Ray from society. Sure he could walk up and see what was wrong with her...but as you can see from the description at the beginning there is a large and scary thorn in his path.
ReplyDelete