The Thorn Literary Elements

First-person speaker who conveys the thoughts and beliefs of others, and is perhaps an unreliable narrator.

23 stanzas of 11 lines of iambic tetrameter, except lines 4 and 9 of each stanza which are iambic trimeter. The only rhyme is a full rhyme couplet at the final two lines of each stanza

"Like rock or stone" (simile)—the thornbush is compared to a rock or stone, as it stands erect.

"Cuts like a scythe" (simile)—the wind is so cold and sharp that it feels like it cuts like a scythe.

"Like an infant's grave in size" (simile)--the heap of earth is compared to the size of an infant's grave and is later revealed to be just that.

"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.

"A fire was kindled in her breast" (metaphor)—the fire refers to the anguish and madness that will later take hold of Martha after Stephen's betrayal and the baby's death.

"There is a Thorn—it looks so old..." (metaphor)—the thorn represents the juxtaposition of good/bad and ugly/beautiful in life, as in nature. The thorn is also a metaphor for Martha's anguish, like a thorn in her side that constantly reminds her of the loss of her child.

"poor thorn" (assonance)—the "o" sound is forlorn and mirrors Martha's mood.

"prickly points" (alliteration)—the "p" consonant sound gives the thorn a meticulous description.

"Like rock or stone, it is o'ergrown" (assonance)--the long "o" sound of "stone" and "o'egrown" is rather heavy, like the feeling one is given when looking at the dragged-down thorn.

"the work had woven been" (alliteration)—the "w" consonant flows the way one might imagine a tapestry being threaded.

"This wretched woman thither goes" (alliteration)—the "th" sound is difficult to pronounce, mirroring a difficult journey to the mountaintop.

"And when the whirlwind's on the hill" (alliteration)—the repeated "w" sound flows well, like the sound of wind.

"Whatever star is in the skies" (alliteration)—the repeated "s" consonant flows nicely and evokes a positive celestial image.

"sober sad" (alliteration)—the repeated "s" consonant creates a soft sound that mimics the feeling of quiet loneliness.

There is a macabre irony in the speaker's likening of the moss heap to a child's grave, as it is finally revealed that the heap is believed to actually be the burial site of an infant.

The speaker claims not to know the details of Martha's story very well, yet he continues to convince the reader of certain things he knows for sure to be true.

lyrical ballad; Romantic poetry

Inspired by a stormy day upon Quantock Hill, Somerset, England. The majority of the poem's description and setting occurs at a reimagined version of this location.

The tone is very meditative, yet the thorn is idiosyncratic in its striking melancholy and gothic overtones. Overall, the mood is alternatively somber and suspenseful.

These two character forms are interestingly subjective and unclear in the poem. It is difficult to distinguish whether Martha Ray is a child murderer who haunts the locals or if the locals are cruel and superstitious and have no sympathy for Martha's tragic life. Stephen may also be considered an antagonist to Martha since he betrays her. On a grander scale, one might say that society is the antagonist to nature, corrupting it by taking away purity and innocence.

Martha Ray appears to be suffering deeply from some internal conflict, and the locals' treatment of Martha can be interpreted as overtly wicked. There is also natural conflict. Wordsworth describes the moss as though it is antagonizing the thorn.

The climax occurs between stanzas 18-21, as the narrator comes face to face with Martha. The shocking revelation that she may have murdered her own child is also revealed.

A great deal of foreshadowing takes place in the first six stanzas, with repetition of the "infant's grave in size," which foreshadows the dead infant, and "deep... vermilion dye," which is later suggested to be the child's blood.

"But Stephen to another maid/ Had sworn another oath" — This is a polite way of saying that Stephen betrayed Martha.

The "scarlet cloak" alludes to the traditional, biblical associations of female sin; it is worn by the whore of Babylon. This literary motif would be employed again in texts like Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter or Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale

"Sad case for such a brain to hold/ Communion with a stirring child!" The Christian act of communion refers to the emotional and spiritual relationship between mother and child.

As in other Romantic poems, nature is often personified:

"And this poor thorn they clasp it round/ So close, you'd say they were bent/ With plain and manifest intent/ To drag it to the ground"—the moss is personified as a foe trying to drag the thorn to the ground as one might do to a person.

"A wretched thing forlorn"—the thorn is depicted as sad and miserable.

"A melancholy crop"—the thorn is sad and miserable.

"To thirsty suns and parching air"—these natural elements are depicted as thirsty humans.

"Or frosty air is keen and still"—the air does not move and is sharp, like a severe person.

"And she is known to every star,/And every wind that blows"—the natural elements "know" Martha as if they were people.

Hyperbole is presented in the form of the locals' sensationalized superstitions in regards to Martha Ray's back story. Furthermore, Martha Ray's melodramatic wails, 'Oh misery! Oh misery!/ Oh woe is me! Oh misery!' is an example of hyperbole.