A Different Perspective on William Wordsworth's "The Thorn"

The article “Martha Ray’s Face: Life During Wartime in ‘Lyrical Ballads’” was written by Toby R. Benis in 1997. Benis believed that “The Thorn,” which was published in 1798, mirrored the problems occurring in England affecting the poet. Benis wrote, “Although critics have argued that the ‘Lyrical Ballads’ show Wordsworth abandoning history and political conflict, ‘The Thorn’ is an implicit analogy between Martha Ray, a women who abandoned her baby after being deserted by her fiance and how Wordsworth felt England failed to support it’s people during civil and political unrest.” (Benis page 2) Benis was convinced that Martha’s abandonment of her baby directly related to how the people of Britain felt unsupported by their government. Benis focused on the fact that the disappearance of Martha’s baby was an interest to the nearby villagers. The villagers were unable to figure out the where abouts of her newborn infant, as well as her strange actions. Without accurate information the villagers confusion leads them to the assumption that Martha Ray committed infanticide. Martha’s past behavior, as well as her relationship with Stephan Hill, cause the villagers to theorize what happened to the baby. The scenario assumed by the villagers, serves as an analogy to “the process by which communities persecuted suspect individuals during and after the invasion scare of 1797.” (Benis page 3) Aside from the analogy, Benis points out how Wordsworth associates the thorn with an infant as well as an elder. “Not higher than a two-years child” (“The Thorn,” line 5) would give the reader the idea that the thorn was a young age. However, “looks so old and grey” (“The Thorn,” line 4)  gives the impression of an aged thorn. The nearby heap of moss is thought to be the site of an infant’s grave. Beside the thorn and the moss sits Martha Ray crying out. Also Benis creates an analogy between the thorn and Martha. The thorn is infant yet ancient, and Martha is innocent yet morally unjust. One of Wordsworth’s many themes is creating characters difficult to classify. The moss heap, the thorn, and Martha all share characteristics deeper than what meets the eye. Earlier in Martha’s life her behavior was not as complex. After her abandonment by Stephen Hill her behavior becomes more complex, and in a sense she appears to go mad. At this point Benis believes her mental state is questionable. Through the poem Wordsworth is able to dramaticize how he was affected by the unsupportive atmosphere occurring in Britain.

Benis brought ideas that I had not previously considered. Curious about the concept of relating “The Thorn” to Britain in the 1790s, I researched the atmosphere in Great Britain that affected William Wordsworth. Events occurring in the 1790s include the French Revolution, religious movements, social reforms, political party reforms, and other governmental changes. Although I believe the thorn directly represents Martha’s grieving presence, I also believe that the analogy Benis made regarding Martha abandoning her baby and Britain failing to support it’s citizens could apply. Benis also noted how the interest sparked by the unknown whereabouts of Martha’s baby was driven by curious neighbors. Likewise, when Wordsworth’s characters are hard to classify, conclusions are jumped to.  Another theme I discovered in “The Thorn” is suspicion and accusation.  When Martha’s behavior changes, suspicion arises and accusations are made without accurate information.  My reflection of Toby Benis’ theme of “The Thorn” representing Britain may not be completely true, however the events and atmosphere that surrounded William Wordsworth at the time of his writing obviously influenced his work. The abandonment that represents Britain’s ignorance, is shown in the poem through Martha’s suspected abandonment of her baby.  However, I do not believe that Martha committed infanticide. There are no lines in the poem that directly accuse her of killing the baby; there is only suspicion from the villagers. I do not agree with Benis’ belief where Martha’s mental state is questioned. The verses in the poem shows Martha’s grief, sadness, as well as her perpetual cries, although her mental state throughout the poem stays constant. The literary criticism from Toby Benis helped me discover different themes as well as develop a new understanding of William Wordsworth’s “The Thorn.”

The Bosnian Monsta

In a land far away with grass the color of rotten fried liver and the smell of festering onions lived a Bosnian Monsta.  This was no ordinary Monsta, she had hair as tall as a sky scraper, and as poofy as a white, purebred, poodle.  She was known all across the world as a fashionable diva.  Zebra skirts as wild as the savanna, even leopard print boots as fierce as the hunter that stalks the prey.  This Bosnian Monsta walked across the land like she was the TBI.  She toppled cities like lumberjacks chopping down fir trees that touch the sky.  Leaving a path of destruction behind her like the remains of Hiroshima after the bomb, the Bosnian Monsta walks once again.  With that slick walk as smooth and graceful as can be nobody could take her down.  Yeah, she had her flaws, but the Bosnian Monsta was as confident and strong as a lion. As fly as a bird in the sky the Bosnian Monsta will destroy any city in her way in order to get what she wants.  This Monsta knows how to play the game and plays it ten times better than all the males after her.  A game full of skill, deceit, and no emotions. Yet a strange emotion has come upon the Monsta, one which she had once before.  An emotion that confused her like if she were a child lost in an unfamiliar place.  The game she once knew has taken an unexpected turn.  The Bosnian Monsta didn’t know what to with this strange feeling.  Like a lost child she wanders around city to city destroying all in her path trying to understand what this feeling might be.  Is this really something or is it just another game?  The Bosnian Monsta may lose this one, but the Bosnian Monsta will never stop ripping cities apart.

A False Hope

The cold, wet, and windy weather turns my face as cold as ice. When I step outside, the hairs rise up on my arms. I dream of the warmth that is hours away; the beautiful bright sun.

The weather man gives a false hope that the rain will stop and there will be sun.

I wake in the morning and the weather has not changed. It is not raining; there is frost on the ground. As time goes by it slowly changes. I feel the excitement rise along with the weather. The nice warmth I feel on my face. And the happiness from the spring flowers blooming. The sound of the birds and nature fill the air. The year goes on with the excitement still rising; the temperature increasing along with each season.

At last, summer is here!

I travel to a sunnier place, where the blue waves of water crash along the shore. I feel the sand between my toes and the smell of salty air from the breeze. The sun is as bright as the smile on my face. With everything so perfect, it was too good to be true. The beauty is overwhelming, but I know what is to come.

This was very enjoyable; although, I miss the wintery season. I imagine myself snowboarding down a freshly covered mountain; making snow angels with my family, then having snowball fights with my friends. After, when I’m frozen and my cheeks and nose are red, I drink hot chocolate and snuggle up in bed. The weather man tells of a snowy day, but he gives false hope. When I wake in the morning the snow is nowhere near.

Blogging Community: "The Life of John Keats; A Romantic Poet"

           The blog “The Life of John Keats; A Romantic Poet” by Andrew Torrey, Nicole Brown, Kylie Hutchison, and Darian Washington is a very well thought out and well laid blog.  At first glance I was interested right away in the topic because of the layout of the page and all the organized links they have.  I like how they have a poll and videos to keep things interesting while looking at the blog.  Most of the posts have pictures that relate to the poem to help create the mental image the poem is trying to create in the reader’s imagination.  I also enjoyed how they appropriately added humor into their blog by their group name and in their about me section.  Seeing the different interpretations of certain poems by different people was interesting because it shows the different perspectives of the poems.  Their blog posts are unique and enchanting to read like Kylie Hutchison’s blog post “On Fame”.  She related one of Keats’ poems to pop culture and made a lot of thought-provoking points about getting caught up in the thought of fame.  Also Darian Washington’s “The Rose” was very intense and well thought out.  The poem has a very deep message in it which I have yet to figure out.  This blog is a very important blog because not only is the content interesting but the layout of the blog keeps the reader engaged in the blog and it stays on the topic of John Keats.  It provides background information about John Keats for the reader and also provides some poems in links off to the left side of the page.  Their interpretations of the poems are concise and make sense.  For someone who knows nothing about Romanticism this blog would inform them of the kind of poet John Keats was and what Romanticism was about.  Overall this blog is worth the time to look at and actually read what the bloggers have to say about John Keats and his poems.  They spent a lot of time and effort into making it easy for the reader to understand their posts and get more information with other links if needed.  They also made it easy to share the blog on Facebook or Twitter and let others know about the blog.

"I Wandered Lonley as a Cloud"

          One of the most famous poems by William Wordsworth is “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud”.  A simple poem filled with nature and joy, just the way Wordsworth liked it.  In the first stanza of the poem he tells of how he wandered around alone in the hills and came across a huge field of daffodils.   He paints a picture in the reader’s mind of the daffodils next to a lake “dancing in the breeze”.  The daffodils are described in his usual naturalistic way in the second stanza.  He sees thousands of flowers and relates the amount to the stars in the Milky Way to show an image through his writing of how many daffodils there were dancing next to the lake.  He uses personification to make the flowers seem more alive as they dance in the wind.  He compares the flowers to the lake by saying that even though the flowers move at the same time as the waves, the beauty of the flowers outshines the beauty of the lake.  The third stanza shows his undeniable joy as he stares at the daffodils.  While he is staring at the field of flowers he doesn’t think much of the effect it will have on him in the future, he lives in the moment of happiness.  In the fourth stanza he realizes that the image of the daffodils comes back to him whenever he is alone or sad.  The image of the daffodils swaying in the breeze by the lake in the hills brings him joy once again.  William Wordsworth is known for his light and joyful poems about nature and the happiness it can bring into one’s life.  This poem is especially famous for its simplistic approach to nature and the feelings it can bring to the reader.  From his descriptive style it is easy to picture the scene at which he is at and feel what the nature around him has to offer.  This poem would have to be one of my favorites of all of the William Wordsworth poems because it’s simple and calming yet the words are so powerful.

Wordsworth Vs. Science

The fast paced forward movement of science was not viewed as a good thing by William Wordsworth.  He didn’t agree with all the scientists just wanting to know the facts about everything and not seeing the true beauty within what they were studying.  Wordsworth was a naturalist and believed that science would soon lead to the destruction of the mystery in nature.  In “A Poet’s Epitaph” he writes “one that would peep and botanize upon his mother’s grave?” to express his belief that scientists are becoming too inhumane with their studies.  Wordsworth was not just angry with natural science but science in general.  He believed that we should appreciate the beauty nature offers us rather than tear it apart to find the answers to every question we can possibly come up with.  The pace of science was moving way too fast for Wordsworth’s liking and he wasn’t going to sit around without a complaint about it.  His anger is expressed in many of his poems like in “The Tables Turned” he even clearly states “enough of science”.  Wordsworth doesn’t specify what type of science he is bothered with in this poem so it seems as if he is referring to science as a whole.  He uses nature as a mysterious way to describe human emotions and the interactions between humans in his poems, so he believed that scientists were taking away the perception of joy in his poems.  However it is believed that science also had an influence in Wordsworth’s poems.  Newton’s third law of motion is mentioned in “The Preface”.  He tried hard to explain the difference between poetry and science, yet explained it in a somewhat hypocritical manner by explaining it with the use of science.  It is also believed that he did this on purpose to show that science can also have an artistic form to it without having to be limited to just answers.  All in all Wordsworth had a couple bones to pick with science and was definitely not quite about.  He voiced his opinions throughout his famous poems and took a stand for what he believed in.

Community Blogging

The blog I choose to evaluate was “The Headless Boyfriend.” When I first saw this blog I was curious how “The Headless Boyfriend” would relate to Romanticism. However, shortly after reading the blog by Lauren Fleskes, Geoffrey Braught, and Cody Schaffer, I realized they were referring to John Keats “Isabella, or The Pot of Basil.” In “Isabella, or The Pot of Basil,” Isabella’s lover Lorenzo, is killed by her brothers and buried in the forest. After she finds him, she chops off his head to take as a party favor. This would explain how the tittle “The Headless Boyfriend” fits. 

The part of the blog I enjoy is the layout, content, and pictures. The layout is very simple, which makes the blog easy to navigate. The white background, and black text provide a contrast making it easy to read without being distracting. The red tittles pop and make the blog catch my attention.  The content of the blog covers the information excellently. It covered a wide variety of the information regarding “Isabella, or The Pot of Basil.” Summaries, character analysis, and information on John Keats, all helped further my understanding on John Keats and his poetry.

I also really liked Lauren’s Poem “Growing Up.” As a teenager changing from a child to a adult I could easily relate to her poem. I especially liked the part where she was saying how hard it is to prioritize. There are so many activities and events to be a part of and its hard to put the work before the fun. Recently, we watched home videos and it made me think back to the memories I have made through my past 16 years of life.

The only thing I felt was missing was no one has posted the entire poem anywhere on the blog which would help further the understanding of the poem. Also the video was long and not identical to the poem, however the author addressed the changes. The video was weird and not really helpful for the understanding of Romanticism. On the other hand, it did provide entertainment and humor because it was awkward and had bad acting.

Overall I was impressed with the Blog “The Headless Boyfriend,” the content, layout and the further understanding of Romanticism that it gave me.