Poetry · Chapter
Bastard Born explained
A defiant and anguished speaker confronts societal scorn for being born out of wedlock, defending the purity and love of their mother while condemning hypocritical moral judgment.
What happens
A defiant and anguished speaker confronts societal scorn for being born out of wedlock, defending the purity and love of their mother while condemning hypocritical moral judgment. The poem shifts from personal pain to a revolutionary warning, culminating in a plea for peace at the mother's grave.
Free preview opens on this chapter — companions, themes, and character notes appear beside the text.
Narrative arc
Story tension across the book — this chapter sits in Exposition.
- Setup
- Escalation
- Breaking point
- Aftermath
- Closing
The emotional peak occurs when the speaker confesses that her love caused her own spiritual barrenness—“Mine t…
Full beat labels and climax notes unlock in the reader.
Follow the arc while readingThemes in this chapter
- Social Injustice and Revolution
The speaker condemns societal hypocrisy and class-based moral judgment, warning of inevitable revolt from the oppressed.
- Love and Loss
The speaker's profound love for their mother and grief at her death drive the poem's emotional core.
- Resistance and Defiance
The speaker defiantly rejects shame, hurls scorn back at accusers, and embraces the label 'bastard born' as a badge of honor.
Characters to notice
- Unknown
The speaker, a 'bastard born' who defends their mother's honor and rails against societal hypocrisy.
- Mother
The deceased mother, revered as pure and loving, buried on a hill; the speaker seeks solace at her grave.
- Christ
Invoked as the 'Love-child of Galilee' whose words 'Peace—be still' are quoted in the final stanza.
Key passages
“Why do you clothe me with scarlet of shame? Why do you point with your finger of scorn? What is the crime that you hissingly name When you sneer in my ears, 'Thou bastard born?'”
Why do you mark me with disgrace and mock me? What crime have I committed to be called a bastard?
Opening lines establishing the speaker's confrontation with societal stigma.
“She was my Sun, my Dew, my Air, The highest, the purest, the holiest; Peace — was the shade of her beautiful hair, Love — was all that I knew on her breast!”
My mother was everything to me: my light, my nourishment, my breath. Her love brought me peace and all the love I ever knew.
The speaker idealizes the mother as a source of life and purity.
“Hark ye! Out of the reeking slums, Thick with the fetid stench of crime, Boiling up through their sickening scums, Bubbles that burst through the crimson wine, Voices burst — with terrible sound, Crying the truth your dull souls ne'er saw! We are your sentence! The wheel turns round! The bastard spawn of your bastard law!”
Listen! From the filthy slums, voices rise up to declare the truth you ignore: we are your judgment, the inevitable result of your unjust laws.
A revolutionary warning that the oppressed will rise against the system that created them.
“Mother, sweet Mother, take me back, Into the bosom from whence I came! Take me away from the cruel rack, Take me out of the parching flame!”
Mother, let me return to your womb, to escape this torture and burning pain.
The speaker's desperate plea for maternal comfort and escape from suffering.
