[[Author:Thomas Hood (1799-1845)

Mary's Ghost. A Pathetic Ballad.

'Twas in the middle of the night,
To sleep young William tried,
When Mary's ghost came stealing in,
And stood at his bed-side.
O William dear ! O William dear !
My rest eternal ceases;
Alas ! my everlasting peace
Is broken into pieces.
I thought the last of all my cares
Would end with my last minute;
But tho' I went to my long home,
I didn't stay long in it.

Body-snatching context

Illegal trade of corpses for medical dissection was common in early 19th-century Britain. Medical schools desperately needed cadavers for anatomical study.

The body-snatchers they have come,
And made a snatch at me;
It's very hard them kind of men
Won't let a body be !
You thought that I was buried deep,
Quite decent like and chary,
But from her grave in Mary-bone
They've come and boned your Mary.
The arm that used to take your arm
Is took to Dr. Vyse;
And both my legs are gone to walk

Anatomical commodification

Each body part is treated like a commercial good, distributed to different medical professionals—a pointed critique of medical ethics.

Medical geography

Real London medical institutions mentioned—Guy's Hospital and Dr. Vyse were actual contemporary surgeons and hospitals.

The hospital at Guy's.
I vow'd that you should have my hand,
But fate gives us denial;
You'll find it there, at Doctor Bell's,
In spirits and a phial.
As for my feet, the little feet
You used to call so pretty,
There's one, I know, in Bedford Row,
The t'other's in the city.
I can't tell where my head is gone,

Gallows humor

The ghost's matter-of-fact tone about bodily dismemberment creates a darkly comic effect, typical of Hood's satirical style.

But Doctor Carpue can:
As for my trunk, it's all pack'd up
To go by Pickford's van.
I wish'd you'd go to Mr. P.
And save me such a ride:
I don't half like the outside place,
They've took for my inside.
The cock it crows—I must be gone !
My William, we must part !
But I'll be yours in death, altho'
Sir Astley has my heart.
Don't go to weep upon my grave,
And think that there I be;
They haven't left an atom there
Of my anatomie.
Source Wikipedia Poetry Foundation

Reading Notes

The Macabre Reality of Body-Snatching

Thomas Hood's ballad exposes the brutal anatomical trade of the early 19th century, when medical demand for cadavers led to widespread grave robbing. Surgeons and medical schools desperately needed human specimens, creating a grim market where deceased bodies were dismembered and sold to the highest bidder.

The poem uses dark comedy to critique this practice, with the ghost of Mary describing her dismemberment in a bizarrely casual tone. Each stanza reveals another body part's destination—legs at Guy's Hospital, heart with Sir Astley Cooper (a famous surgeon), hands in medical collections—transforming a human being into a fragmented commodity.

Poetic Protest Through Gallows Humor

Hood employs satirical ballad form to expose social injustice, using the ghost's perspective to highlight the dehumanizing practices of early medical research. The cheerful rhythm contrasts sharply with the gruesome narrative, creating an unsettling comedic effect.

By personifying the dismembered corpse, Hood grants agency to victims of medical exploitation, turning a potential tragedy into a sharp social critique. The repeated refrain of bodily distribution becomes a powerful metaphor for how marginalized individuals were treated as objects rather than human beings.