The Thorn by William Wordsworth - Stanza-wise Explanation

The Thorn

 The narrator mentions an old-looking thorn but he says that it is not very old, its height is same as that of a two-year-old child. It has no leaves, nothing noteworthy, it is meagre "a mass of knotted joints,
A wretched thing forlorn."

According to the narrator, the thorn is under attack by mosses and lichens, that intend to "bury this poor Thorn forever."

This thorn is situated on a high ridge where sharp "scythe" (blade-like tool) like winds blow and drag clouds from one valley to another. The thorn lies on the five yards left from the mountain path on it. Three yards left, the narrator, points to a "little muddy pond" which never dries despite lying below  "thirsty suns and parching air."

Near the thorn, lies a small mound of a foot's height. It is covered by moss and looks beautiful. It seems a fair lady crafted it with her hands. Also, he praises the cup lichens (a cup-shaped fungus) whose vermillion colour looks exquisite and deep. 

Cup-lichens

He further sings the praises of colours of Nature: olive green and scarlet in spikes, branches, and whiteness of stars. He points to a heap of earth o'ergrown with moss around the thorn and compares it to an infant's grave (strange comparison, isn't it? You will understand why he compared it with an infant's grave) and declares that nowhere else an infant's grave is even half as beautiful as it is here.

The narrator asks the readers to take note of the things which he talked till now: "this aged thorn, this pond and beauteous hill of moss". He mentions a "woman in a scarlet cloak" who visits this place often and utters grieving words " Oh misery! oh misery!". He again compares the heap with an infant's grave. He also asks the readers to climb the mountain and visit this place at the right time to watch her.

A hill of moss

This woman, whether it is day or night, visits this hill of moss and sits beside the thorn. Because she is a regular visitor there, every star above recognizes her and every wind that blows from there, knows her. Whether it is blue sky or whirlwind on the hill or even when the frosty wind shivers everything, she remains there and blurts her usual ' "Oh misery! oh misery!/ Oh woe is me! oh misery!" '

The narrator asks a series of rhetorical questions as for what reason this wretched woman in harsh weather climbs the mountaintop and goes near the thorn. Why does she sit beside the thorn? Why does she cry? Why does she repeat her crying words?

The narrator insists that nobody including him can tell the exact reason why she goes there but he encourages the readers to visit the spot where she goes. Her hut is rarely shut and if you find her in the hut, she would be soon found on the moss hill.

The narrator wonders again why she goes to the mountaintop oblivious to changing stars above her or the direction of winds. Then he embarks to tell the story of that woman whose name is Martha Ray. Twenty years ago, she was a maiden who fell in love with a man named Stephen Hill. She truly loved him and she was happy with him. Her family and friends approved of her choice of husband.

Her family has arranged and fixed their marriage. But on the morning of their wedding day, Stephen solemnized his marriage to another girl. Martha's heart was broken on that day and she was devastated. 

"A fire was kindled in her breast, / Which might not burn itself to rest."

After six months, in the summertime, she would climb the mountain and often be seen there. The narrator wondered about the thing she was trying to seek or hide there. Anyone who could see her can tell that she held a child and that, she had gone crazy. Her baby died due to reasons our narrator doesn't know. It was another blow to Martha. The narrator holds Stephen, her husband, responsible for the infant's death and he asks whether its death means the ceasing of the symbol of Martha and Stephen's communion and his fault of breaching the relationship with Martha. He hints that Stephen can never be forgiven for his cruelty.

The narrator pities the mad woman who has the responsibility of motherhood despite her poor mental condition. The narrator held discussions with nearby people last Christmas. Wilfred, a grey-haired man from a valley, opined that when Martha was pregnant, the arrival of her baby into this world, had a magical effect on her. He added when she was about to conceive the infant, she was calm and composed. Her senses were intact.

The narrator says that he doesn't know what happened afterwards, although he feels that the readers deserved to know but he is unable to find what happened to that child. No one knows, for sure. In fact, no one can tell whether she actually did conceive the infant or not, and if she did, it is not known whether it was born alive or dead (stillborn).  And without any proof, nothing can be said about it. But some people can remember clearly that since that time, she would begin her ritual of climbing that mountaintop often times.

Afterwards, during wintry nights, when the winds blow from the mountaintop. He tells the readers that it would be interesting for them to walk the path to the churchyard. Many people often heard cries from the mountaintop. They heard voices of the living as well as the dead. The narrator is not sure whether these voices have anything to do with Martha Ray.

He is certain about one thing that she visits this old Thorn and sits beside it, wearing a scarlet cloak. When the narrator newly arrived in this country and didn't know anything about Martha, he climbed up the mountain with his telescope to view the sight of the ocean from there. A storm came and he could not see any object higher than his knee.

The weather was not pleasant. It was a torrent (heavy rain) with mist and storm. The narrator was unable to see any object. He claimed that the wind was 10 times stronger than its usual pace. He looked around and find a cliff ("crag") and ran towards it for shelter. But on reaching nearby it, he found a woman seated instead of a cliff.

The narrator said nothing and upon looking at her "face!—it was enough for me". The reason could be that the ordeals of her life were imprinted on her face. He looked away and again heard her usual grieving words ' "Oh misery! oh misery!" '. She would sit there till midnight. Even when the cold breeze blows and shivers the pond's water as well as the people, she remains there, shuddering and wailing, ' "Oh misery! oh misery!" '.

The narrator asks why this thorn, the pond and the mossy hill mean so much to her. He doesn't know. Some rumours hint that either she hanged her baby on a tree or she drowned it in the pond, which is too brutal for anyone. But all of them agree that the baby's corpse is buried under the mound (hill) of moss.

Pond

He also heard that the moss round the thorn, where the baby was buried, turned red due to absorption of blood by the moss. But his belief says that she can't kill a newly-born baby. He heard some people say if one looks in the pond carefully, one can note the baby's shadow, and then the baby and its face. The baby will look back at one who is seeing or staring at it in the pond.

Some people strongly believe that she should be punished for the heinous crime she committed (they think that she really murder the infant). They tried to dig out the bones of the baby with spades. But as they put this in action, the "hill of moss" began to move/stir and the grass on the fifty yards ground began to shake. Everyone is still certain that the baby is buried under the "hill of moss".

The narrator doesn't understand how such a supernatural thing can happen. He looks at the growth of "heavy tufts of moss" on the thorn which is bringing it down. He can't make of many things about Martha but still, he can hear her cries of "oh misery!..." from the mountaintop as she sits day and night under the starry night.