"Half-Hanged Mary" is Canadian writer Margaret Atwood's tale of patriarchal cruelty and powerful transformation. This dramatic monologue's speaker is Mary Webster, a 17th-century woman hanged for witchcraft in Puritan Massachusetts. Dangling from a tree, choking but not dying, Mary has plenty of time to reflect on the sadistic sexism that got her here—and when she's found alive the next morning, she truly becomes the powerful witch she was falsely accused of being before. This poem first appeared in Atwood's 1995 collection Morning in the Burned House.

• Read the full text of “Half-Hanged Mary”

• “Half-Hanged Mary” Summary

• “Half-Hanged Mary” Themes

  • 

    Misogyny and Oppression

    Where this theme appears in the poem:

    • Lines 10-18
    • Between Lines 18-19
    • Lines 19-30
    • Between Lines 30-31
    • Lines 31-55
    • Between Lines 55-56
    • Lines 56-62
    • Lines 85-87
    • Lines 178-184
    • Between Lines 184-185
    • Lines 185-200
  • 

    Resistance, Perseverance, and Sacrifice

    Where this theme appears in the poem:

    • Between Lines 55-56
    • Lines 56-74
    • Between Lines 74-75
    • Lines 75-102
    • Between Lines 125-126
    • Lines 126-144
    • Between Lines 164-165
    • Lines 165-184
    • Between Lines 184-185
    • Lines 185-215
  • 

    Suffering and Transformation

    Where this theme appears in the poem:

    • Lines 23-26
    • Between Lines 55-56
    • Lines 56-74
    • Between Lines 102-103
    • Lines 103-125
    • Between Lines 125-126
    • Lines 126-144
    • Between Lines 144-145
    • Lines 145-164
    • Between Lines 164-165
    • Lines 165-184
    • Between Lines 184-185
    • Lines 185-215

• Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “Half-Hanged Mary”

  • Lines 1-9

    Rumour was loose ...
    ... a thrown stone.

    

    

    

    

    Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

  • Lines 10-18

    I was hanged ...
    ... come in handy.

    

    

    

    

    Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

  • Lines 19-22

    The rope was ...
    ... onto the tree.

    

    

    

    

    Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

  • Lines 23-30

    Trussed hands, rag ...
    ... me wearing it.

    

    

    

    

    Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

  • Lines 31-40

    The bonnets come ...
    ... save your life.

    

    

    

    

    Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

  • Lines 41-49

    Help me down? ...
    ... pointing a finger.

    

    

    

    

    Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

  • Lines 50-55

    I understand. You ...
    ... need it all.

    

    

    

    

    Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

  • Lines 56-68

    Well God, now ...
    ... spell out Grace?

    

    

    

    

    Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

  • Lines 68-74

    Does my twisting ...
    ... of Your face.

    

    

    

    

    Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

  • Lines 75-80

    My throat is ...
    ... down on despair.

    

    

    

    

    Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

  • Lines 81-93

    Death sits on ...
    ... Why suffer?

    

    

    

    

    Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

  • Lines 94-102

    A temptation, to ...
    ... To let go.

    

    

    

    

    Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

  • Lines 103-116

    Out of my ...
    ... as mine are.

    

    

    

    

    Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

  • Lines 117-125

    There is only ...
    ... the angels caw.

    

    

    

    

    Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

  • Lines 126-136

    wind seethes in ...
    ... or silver disc

    

    

    

    

    Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

  • Lines 136-144

    my lungs ...
    ... not give in

    

    

    

    

    Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

  • Lines 145-149

    Sun comes up, ...
    ... lived a millennium.

    

    

    

    

    Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

  • Lines 150-159

    I would like ...
    ... revelation of deafness.

    

    

    

    

    Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

  • Lines 160-164

    At the end ...
    ... will have two.

    

    

    

    

    Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

  • Lines 165-177

    When they came ...
    ... that went over.

    

    

    

    

    Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

  • Lines 178-184

    Now I only ...
    ... I am one.

    

    

    

    

    Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

  • Lines 185-193

    My body of ...
    ... of my way.

    

    

    

    

    Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

  • Lines 194-200

    My first death ...
    ... I can say.

    

    

    

    

    Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

  • Lines 201-211

    Holiness gleams on ...
    ... been dead twice?

    

    

    

    

    Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

  • Lines 212-215

    The words boil ...
    ... fullness, all vacancy.

    

    

    

    

    Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

• “Half-Hanged Mary” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

  • Imagery

    

    

    

    

    Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

    Where imagery appears in the poem:

    • Lines 11-13: “for having blue eyes and a sunburned skin, / tattered skirts, few buttons, / a weedy farm in my own name,”
    • Line 16: “and a sweet pear hidden in my body.”
    • Line 22: “a blackened apple stuck back onto the tree.”
    • Line 25: “old bone-faced goddess, old original, ”
    • Line 32: “the dark skirts also,”
    • Lines 33-34: “the upturned faces in between, / mouths closed so tight they're lipless.”
    • Lines 88-89: “or like a dark angel / insidious in his glossy feathers”
    • Line 145: “Sun comes up, huge and blaring,”
    • Lines 156-157: “listening to the gospel / of the red-hot stars.”
    • Line 179: “through my sky-blue eyes.”
    • Lines 190-191: “mouth full of juicy adjectives / and purple berries.”
    • Line 201: “Holiness gleams on my dirty fingers,”
    • Lines 204-206: “blasphemies / gleam and burst in my wake / like lovely bubbles.”

  • Simile

    

    

    

    

    Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

    Where simile appears in the poem:

    • Lines 5-9: “I didn't feel the aimed word hit / and go in like a soft bullet. / I didn't feel the smashed flesh / closing over it like water / over a thrown stone.”
    • Lines 21-22: “Up I go like a windfall in reverse, / a blackened apple stuck back onto the tree.”
    • Lines 29-30: “their own evil turned inside out like a glove, / and me wearing it.”
    • Lines 42-43: “I might rub off on you, / like soot or gossip.”
    • Lines 63-65: “Is it my choice that I'm dangling / like a turkey's wattles from this / more than indifferent tree?”
    • Lines 72-74: “falling like meteors or / burning owls across / the profound blank sky of Your face.”
    • Lines 81-84: “Death sits on my shoulder like a crow / waiting for my squeezed beet / of a heart to burst / so he can eat my eyes”
    • Lines 85-87: “or like a judge / muttering about sluts and punishment / and licking his lips”
    • Lines 88-93: “or like a dark angel / insidious in his glossy feathers / whispering to me to be easy / on myself. To breathe out finally. / Trust me,  / he says, caressing / me.  / Why suffer?”
    • Lines 108-109: “Maybe it's more like being strangled / than I once thought.”
    • Lines 113-115: “Did they ask to be tossed / on the ground, gabbling like holy poultry, / eyeballs bulging?”
    • Lines 128-129: “night birds yell inside / my ears like stabbed hearts”
    • Lines 152-153: “Instead it was my heart: / bleached out like meat in water.”
    • Lines 204-206: “blasphemies / gleam and burst in my wake / like lovely bubbles.”

  • Metaphor

    

    

    

    

    Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

    Where metaphor appears in the poem:

    • Line 16: “and a sweet pear hidden in my body.”
    • Lines 66-67: “If Nature is Your alphabet, / what letter is this rope?”
    • Lines 94-95: “A temptation, to sink down / into these definitions.”
    • Lines 109-110: “Maybe it's / a gasp for air, prayer.”
    • Lines 194-196: “My first death orbits my head, / an ambiguous nimbus, / medallion of my ordeal.”
    • Line 201: “Holiness gleams on my dirty fingers,”
    • Lines 212-215: “The words boil out of me, / coil after coil of sinuous possibility. / The cosmos unravels from my mouth, / all fullness, all vacancy.”

  • Metonymy

    

    

    

    

    Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

    Where metonymy appears in the poem:

    • Lines 31-32: “The bonnets come to stare, / the dark skirts also,”

  • Personification

    

    

    

    

    Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

    Where personification appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-2: “Rumour was loose in the air, / hunting for some neck to land on.”
    • Lines 24-26: “a flag raised to salute the moon, / old bone-faced goddess, old original,  / who once took blood in return for food.”
    • Lines 70-71: “Faith, Charity, and Hope / are three dead angels”
    • Lines 81-93: “Death sits on my shoulder like a crow / waiting for my squeezed beet / of a heart to burst / so he can eat my eyes / or like a judge / muttering about sluts and punishment / and licking his lips / or like a dark angel / insidious in his glossy feathers / whispering to me to be easy / on myself. To breathe out finally. / Trust me,  / he says, caressing / me.  / Why suffer?”

  • Repetition

    

    

    

    

    Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

    Where repetition appears in the poem:

    • Line 5: “I didn't feel”
    • Line 7: “I didn't feel”
    • Line 47: “the safe place”
    • Line 49: “the safe stance”
    • Line 59: “fingerwork, legwork, work”
    • Line 98: “To give up”
    • Line 100: “To give up”
    • Line 101: “To give up”
    • Line 102: “To”
    • Line 111: “Did”
    • Line 113: “Did”
    • Line 116: “As mine are, as mine are.”
    • Line 122: “Call it,” “Call it”
    • Line 123: “Call it”
    • Line 126: “wind seethes”
    • Lines 127-128: “night / birds night birds”
    • Line 129: “like stabbed hearts my heart”
    • Line 132: “wind seethes”
    • Lines 139-140: “I was born I have borne I / bear I will be born”
    • Line 168: “surprise, surprise”
    • Line 201: “gleams”
    • Line 202: “I eat”
    • Line 203: “I eat”
    • Line 205: “gleam”
    • Line 207: “I speak”
    • Line 208: “my audience is owls.”
    • Line 209: “My audience is God,”
    • Line 213: “coil after coil”

  • Allusion

    

    

    

    

    Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

    Where allusion appears in the poem:

    • Lines 25-26: “old bone-faced goddess, old original,  / who once took blood in return for food.”
    • Lines 66-67: “If Nature is Your alphabet, / what letter is this rope?”
    • Lines 69-69: “I hurt, therefore I am / .”
    • Lines 70-71: “Faith, Charity, and Hope / are three dead angels”
    • Lines 111-115: “Did those men at Pentecost / want flames to shoot out of their heads? / Did they ask to be tossed / on the ground, gabbling like holy poultry, / eyeballs bulging?”
    • Lines 135-136: “my fists hold No / talisman or silver disc”
    • Lines 209-211: “My audience is God, / because who the hell else could understand me?  / Who else has been dead twice?”

  • Enjambment

    

    

    

    

    Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

    Where enjambment appears in the poem:

    • Lines 5-6: “hit / and”
    • Lines 7-8: “flesh / closing”
    • Lines 8-9: “water / over”
    • Lines 17-18: “demons / these”
    • Lines 35-36: “eyeholes / and”
    • Lines 43-44: “Birds / of”
    • Lines 46-47: “one / the”
    • Lines 50-51: “spare / anything”
    • Lines 51-52: “shawl / against”
    • Lines 53-54: “Lord / knows”
    • Lines 54-55: “much / to”
    • Lines 56-57: “here / with”
    • Lines 57-58: “kill / away”
    • Lines 58-59: “daily / fingerwork”
    • Lines 59-60: “work / at”
    • Lines 63-64: “dangling / like”
    • Lines 64-65: “this / more”
    • Lines 70-71: “Hope / are”
    • Lines 71-72: “angels / falling”
    • Lines 72-73: “or / burning”
    • Lines 73-74: “across / the”
    • Lines 75-76: “rope / choking”
    • Lines 81-82: “crow / waiting”
    • Lines 82-83: “beet / of”
    • Lines 83-84: “burst / so”
    • Lines 84-85: “eyes / or”
    • Lines 85-86: “judge / muttering”
    • Lines 86-87: “punishment / and”
    • Lines 87-88: “lips / or”
    • Lines 88-89: “angel / insidious”
    • Lines 89-90: “feathers / whispering”
    • Lines 90-91: “easy / on”
    • Lines 94-95: “down / into”
    • Lines 103-104: “some / distance”
    • Lines 104-105: “sound / which”
    • Lines 105-106: “that / praying”
    • Lines 108-109: “strangled / than”
    • Lines 109-110: “ it's / a”
    • Lines 111-112: “Pentecost / want”
    • Lines 113-114: “tossed / on”
    • Lines 117-118: “not / the”
    • Lines 118-119: “nightgown / on”
    • Lines 124-125: “explode / inwards”
    • Lines 126-127: “around / me”
    • Lines 127-128: “night / birds”
    • Lines 128-129: “inside / my”
    • Lines 129-130: “heart / stutters”
    • Lines 130-131: “cloth / body”
    • Lines 131-132: “strength / going”
    • Lines 132-133: “seethes / in”
    • Lines 133-134: “tattering / the”
    • Lines 134-135: “clench / my”
    • Lines 135-136: “No / talisman”
    • Lines 136-137: “lungs / flail”
    • Lines 137-138: “call / on”
    • Lines 138-139: “did / no”
    • Lines 139-140: “I / bear”
    • Lines 140-141: “is / a”
    • Lines 141-142: “not / acknowledge”
    • Lines 142-143: “wind / hold”
    • Lines 148-149: “you / I”
    • Lines 150-151: “white / overnight”
    • Lines 155-156: “space / listening”
    • Lines 160-161: “rope / I”
    • Lines 172-173: “twice / for”
    • Lines 175-176: “them / in”
    • Lines 178-179: “look / out”
    • Lines 180-181: “will / staring”
    • Lines 181-182: “forehead / and”
    • Lines 185-186: “wanes / around”
    • Lines 188-189: “fields / mumbling”
    • Lines 190-191: “adjectives / and”
    • Lines 192-193: “bushes / to”
    • Lines 198-199: “something / I”
    • Lines 203-204: “mice / and”
    • Lines 204-205: “blasphemies / gleam”
    • Lines 205-206: “wake / like”

  • Assonance

    

    

    

    

    Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

    Where assonance appears in the poem:

    • Line 14: “surefire cure”
    • Line 15: “yes,” “breasts”
    • Line 23: “rag”
    • Line 24: “flag,” “salute,” “moon”
    • Line 25: “old bone,” “old”
    • Line 26: “who,” “once,” “blood,” “food”
    • Line 40: “wife,” “life”
    • Line 44: “feather,” “together”
    • Line 48: “dance”
    • Line 49: “stance”
    • Line 78: “bulges,” “skull”
    • Line 85: “judge”
    • Line 86: “muttering,” “sluts,” “punishment”
    • Line 87: “licking,” “lips”
    • Line 89: “insidious in his”
    • Line 90: “whispering”
    • Line 150: “I,” “like,” “white”
    • Line 151: “overnight”
    • Line 153: “bleached,” “meat”

  • Alliteration

    

    

    

    

    Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

    Where alliteration appears in the poem:

    • Line 11: “sunburned skin”
    • Line 41: “down,” “don't dare”
    • Line 45: “rule ravens”
    • Line 49: “safe stance”
    • Line 61: “can continue,” “quarrel”
    • Line 78: “Blood,” “bulges”
    • Line 80: “bite”
    • Line 87: “licking,” “lips”

  • Consonance

    

    

    

    

    Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

    Where consonance appears in the poem:

    • Line 7: “smashed flesh”
    • Line 11: “sunburned skin”
    • Line 12: “tattered skirts”
    • Line 22: “blackened apple stuck back”
    • Line 31: “bonnets,” “stare”
    • Line 32: “dark skirts”
    • Line 89: “insidious,” “glossy”
    • Line 90: “whispering”
    • Line 92: “Trust,” “says, caressing”
    • Line 93: “suffer”
    • Line 128: “birds,” “night,” “birds”
    • Line 129: “stabbed hearts”
    • Lines 129-130: “heart / stutters”
    • Line 130: “fluttering cloth”
    • Line 131: “body,” “dangle”
    • Line 170: “Tough luck, folks”
    • Line 204: “blasphemies”
    • Line 205: “gleam,” “burst”
    • Line 206: “like lovely,” “bubbles”

  • Irony

    

    

    

    

    Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

    Where irony appears in the poem:

    • Lines 15-18: “Oh yes, and breasts, / and a sweet pear hidden in my body. / Whenever there's talk of demons / these come in handy.”
    • Lines 19-20: “The rope was an improvisation. / With time they'd have thought of axes.”
    • Lines 50-55: “I understand. You can't spare / anything, a hand, a piece of bread, a shawl / against the cold, / a good word. Lord / knows there isn't much / to go around. You need it all.”
    • Lines 56-57: “Well God, now that I'm up here / with maybe some time to kill”
    • Lines 63-68: “Is it my choice that I'm dangling / like a turkey's wattles from this / more than indifferent tree? / If Nature is Your alphabet, / what letter is this rope? / Does my twisting body spell out Grace?”
    • Lines 170-173: “Tough luck, folks, / I know the law: / you can't execute me twice / for the same thing. How nice.”

• “Half-Hanged Mary” Vocabulary

  Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.

  • A sweet pear hidden in my body
  • Windfall
  • Trussed
  • Stalk
  • Quarrel
  • Indifferent
  • Faith, Charity, and Hope
  • Taut
  • Insidious
  • Caressing
  • Martyr
  • Constrained
  • Pentecost
  • Gabbling
  • Poultry
  • Seethes
  • Exude
  • Talisman
  • Testify
  • Waxes and wanes
  • Nimbus
  • Sinuous
  • Vacancy
  • (Location in poem: Line 16: “a sweet pear hidden in my body”)

• Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Half-Hanged Mary”

  • Form

  • Meter

  • Rhyme Scheme

• “Half-Hanged Mary” Speaker

• “Half-Hanged Mary” Setting

• Literary and Historical Context of “Half-Hanged Mary”

• More “Half-Hanged Mary” Resources

  • External Resources

    • More of Atwood's Work — Read more of Atwood's poems at the Poetry Foundation.

    • An Interview with Atwood — Watch an interview in which Atwood discusses her writing.

    • The Life of Mary Webster — Learn more about Mary Webster, the real-life figure whose botched execution inspired this poem.

    • Atwood's Feminism — Listen to Margaret Atwood discussing The Handmaid's Tale, her famous novel about sexism and oppression. Atwood dedicated the novel to Mary Webster, and many of its themes are related to this poem's.

    • Atwood on Freedom — Read Atwood's recent op-ed on political oppression and freedom.

  • LitCharts on Other Poems by Margaret Atwood

    • Siren Song

    • The City Planners

    • This Is a Photograph of Me

    • [you fit into me]

Cite This Page