The Thorn
La presente ilustración es realizada para acompañar el poema The Thorn del poeta inglés William Wordswort (1770-1850). Representa la escena del fantasma de Martha Ray deambulando entre la niebla. La imagen es acompañada por los textos de las estrofas XIX y XX:
“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.
“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.
Página 189 – Martha Ray. 2010. Acuarela y bolígrafo sobre papel, 21 x 13.5 cm
Esta imagen fue el diseño realizado para el personaje de Martha Ray