NETTLES The poem “Nettles” is about the relationship of a father and his son. The father is angered by the fact that his son has been stung by nettles, and shows violence and aggression. The poem basically talks about how parents try to protect their children, but later on realize that their children can’t be protected form everything. The poem starts off with, “My son aged three fell in the nettle bed”. Using the personal pronoun “My” shows that this is a personal poem. And by telling us that his son is aged three shows how young the boy is. The word young usually also connotes innocence, naivety and defencelessness. The poet then continues, “‘Bed’ seemed a curios name for those green spears,”. Here the dad compares the nettles to violent
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Throughout the poem, words such as “slashed”, “fury” and “regiments” are used, making us imagine a dangerous battlefield where a violent war is taking place. Also, Scannell makes the poem less specific and personal, which allows readers to imagine any kid, perhaps even their own kids, making it easy for people to relate to the poem. This gives a powerful sense of love between a parent and child.
Overall, “Nettles” is basically an extended metaphor, where the dad creates a vivd and metaphorical world where it seems as if everything is out to get is son; his son is being attacked from all sides. It has a strange balance between extremely dangerous and extremely boring, because it tells us that danger doesn’t have to be in a battlefield. The danger can exist anywhere, even around the corner.
The pain and wounds talked about in the poem talks about not only the physical sting of the nettles, but also refers to the emotional pain the boy will experience in his life in the future. The last line, “My son would often feel sharp wounds again” emphasizes the realization that hits the father of the fact that no matter how hard he tries, he can’t protect his son from the dangers that lurk in everyday life. Eventually his child will encounter pain. It also shows how allowing your child to learn from these accidents is just part of growing
Throughout the poem, words such as “slashed”, “fury” and “regiments” are used, making us imagine a dangerous battlefield where a violent war is taking place. Also, Scannell makes the poem less specific and personal, which allows readers to imagine any kid, perhaps even their own kids, making it easy for people to relate to the poem. This gives a powerful sense of love between a parent and child.
Overall, “Nettles” is basically an extended metaphor, where the dad creates a vivd and metaphorical world where it seems as if everything is out to get is son; his son is being attacked from all sides. It has a strange balance between extremely dangerous and extremely boring, because it tells us that danger doesn’t have to be in a battlefield. The danger can exist anywhere, even around the corner.
The pain and wounds talked about in the poem talks about not only the physical sting of the nettles, but also refers to the emotional pain the boy will experience in his life in the future. The last line, “My son would often feel sharp wounds again” emphasizes the realization that hits the father of the fact that no matter how hard he tries, he can’t protect his son from the dangers that lurk in everyday life. Eventually his child will encounter pain. It also shows how allowing your child to learn from these accidents is just part of growing