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In terms of structure; Vernon structures “Nettles” in a very simple and melodious ABAB rhyme scheme
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The poem is also
written in iambic pentameter – this is to emphasise the significance and importance of the poem
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The poem is close to a sonnet – it has sixteen lines whereas a sonnet has
fourteen
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He had broken rules in the past – he left the army (twice)! Alternatively Vernon might have used sixteen lines to show that
his second child was sixteen when he died in a tragic motorcycle accident
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“My son aged three fell in the nettle bed
Bed seemed a curious name for those green spears”
The word “bed” is juxtaposed to the word “nettle” in the first line
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It is strange, weird and rather unusual because the word
“bed” is related with comfort but in this line it is juxtaposed with the word “nettles” which can cause discomfort, pain and
irritation
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There are a lot of mixed feelings and emotions composed in the poem “Nettles”
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The
title is quite boring, dull and monotonous – it doesn’t make the poem start off with a bang
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Vernon uses the words “My son” intentionally because it makes the poem more
universal which means the poem will have a wider range of audience
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Visually the poem is structured so that it is spiky like actual nettles especially with the second line
to correspond with the points of the nettles being “green spears”
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In line two the poet refers to the nettles as “green spears” this is a type of metaphor; it compares the nettles to actual spears –
this is exaggeration and it’s hyperbolic
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The word
“spears” is employed deliberately by the poet – this is to unleash the father’s wrath
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The word “spears” is monosyllabic which hits the reader with even more impact and momentum than it already does
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Most words that are wrathful in the English language start from the front of them mouth – so does the word “spears”
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The term “spears” is exaggerating on how severely his son suffered – he fell in a nettle bed; but now
it can be viewed as if he fell on a spear rack
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Furthermore Vernon Scannell’s usage of the word “spears” in the poem highlights;
emphasises and stresses painfulness – it may refer to Vernon Scannell’s experiences when he was in the army
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The readers have either experienced something from either semantic field war or
nettles; or they might know someone close that did
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“then I took my billhook, honed the blade
And went outside and slashed in fury with it
Till not a nettle in that fierce parade
Stood upright any more
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The writer of
the poem includes this purposely in order to personify – in a way this is in fact a type of metaphor
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The
terminology “Next task:” makes the father look ruthless; devouring everything in its path, it’s like he’s Jack the ripper; some sort
of a bounty hunter – it’s as if he has a checklist or some sort of a killing list
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The poem is structured like some sort of a metaphorical kind
of battle that withdraws and uses language from the semantic field of war – although it does have a sense of love in it
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When the father says “Next task:” it makes it appear like the father is on a killing spree – this represents his love
for his son – He is seeking vengeance!
“My son would often feel sharp wounds again
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The poet is talking metaphorically because he isn’t really referring to nettles now: he is referring to other
problems in life
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Some critics may argue that Vernon Scannell is looking at his children’s pain and struggle and
feeling a sense of nostalgia – he’s remembering his own agony he had to go through when he went to war in World War II
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I believe the poem may also indicate that children become a lot more independent once they grow old; they detach from their
parents and actually some of them don’t want help from their parents because they might feel like it’s childish
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The reasoning for why Vernon Scannell felt like this when he wrote the poem is because the poet himself has lost two of his
children – one of them died as an infant and the other died in a fatal motorcycle accident
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Vernon has lived through a lot of things in his life (cold war and world war) that paranoids and
scars him emotionally
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