So fresh in all its beauteous dyes,
Is like an infant's grave in size.
The poem has a storytelling structure and an ominous mood. The first five stanzas contain the description of the setting—the spot with the thorn, the lake, and this heap of earth covered with moss that looks like an infant's grave. These lines set the stage for the narrative that is to come.
"Oh misery! oh misery!
Oh woe is me! oh misery!"
Those people who pass near the thorn often see a mysterious woman in a scarlet cloak seated there. The woman is distraught and repeats this lament every time she is seen, and it is believed that her baby is buried in that spot. These lines are repeated throughout the poem and are used again at its conclusion. Whether the woman actually killed and buried the child there is uncertain, but the vision of her by the little grave is a haunting image that pervades the poem.
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.
The ominous and haunting mood of the poem is established by the speaker's telling of Martha Ray's story. There are many speculations as to what really happened to her child, but everyone seems to agree that a tragedy occurred and that the baby is dead. Aside from the sightings of Martha in a scarlet cloak, there is also talk of this disturbing appearance of her baby's image reflected in the muddy pond near the grave. This connection of the innocence of the baby to the ominous and ghostly adds a disturbing, supernatural effect to the poem and appears to symbolize innocence lost.
