Nettles by Vernon Scannell

What’s the Point?

• This poem is a first person narrative told form the perspective of the speaker.
• This poem works on two levels.
• It's the story about a boy who falls in the nettles and hurts himself, so his father gets really angry with the nettles (it's a little weird) and goes out and slashes them and then burns them. He then realises it's pointless and that the nettles will just grow back and he will not be able to protect his son forever.
• An extended metaphor about his experiences with war. Scannell felt very angry about the waste of life he saw during World War 2. In this metaphor the nettles represent the soldiers, the sun and rain represent the government who just 'grow' more recuits to have them killed again.

Where’s my Evidence?

• That regiment of spite
• White blisters beaded on his tender skin
• And then I took my hook and honed the blade/ And went outside and slashed in fury with it
• that fierce parade
• But in two weeks the busy sun and rain
• Had called up tall recruits behind the shed

How do I Analyse this?

Form: This poem is written in iambic pentameter which reflects the tight control of military life or perhaps the pulsing anger running throughout the poem. In line 10 the iambic pentameter is broken, perhaps reflecting the anger and loss of control at this point in the poem.
The alternating ABABCDCD rhyme scheme helps to control the rhythm, giving the poem a strict, militaristic feel while also stressing certain ideas (tears/ spears or dead/ shed and parade/ blade).
Alliteration is used effectively to exaggerate key images and emotions: "blisters beaded" sounds painful and exaggerates this image effectively. Similarly the repetition of the 'h' sound in "took my hook and honed my blade" emphasises his breathless fury.

Imagery: The extended metaphor of the Nettles works well. Nettles are common and grow everywhere. Thus they represent the cheapness of human life in war. Also, they are impossible to avoid, like painful experiences in child's life and will always grow back, no matter how much you try to get rid of them.
There is a lot of military imagery in this poem: "spears", "sharp wounds", "regiment of spite". This alludes to Scannell's experiences in war and experiences in the army.
It also reveals that he sees the world as a hard and dangerous place for his children. Scannell had six children and two of them died: one as a baby and one in a motorbike accident. In this poem the reader learns that he feels powerless to protect them: "My son would often feel sharp wounds again."
The imagery of physical hurt: "sharp wounds", "blisters beaded" and "sobs and tears" emphasises the vulnerability of his son or of the young soldiers fighting in the war. Perhaps he is reminding the reader that all these young men were only just out of childhood when they died.
Personification of the sun and rain make them sound foolish and uncaring like the governments who send soldiers to war.

What is the Reader supposed to feel?

This poem strikes me as very masculine. There is something about the order and tidiness of the form (the use of iambic pentameter, the precise use of rhyme, the almost a sonnet-ness of it), coupled with the army imagery which strikes me as distinctly male. It's very different to Ghazal or Praise Song for My Mother, which have more feminine fluidity.


Also, it's a poem about a father and a son and is possibly saying something about the way in which men in the twentieth century were trapped into the roles of soldiers. Both World War 1 and World War 2 had conscription and Scannell tried to desert the army twice. I can feel his helplessness and frustration when he burns the nettles - it's such a pointless and overblown action which achieves nothing ("But in two weeks" the nettles have grown back again). It is also alluding to the endless supply of conscripted soldiers "tall recruits" who continue to feed the war machine. Perhaps Scannell feels that should another war arise, he will be unable to protect his son - that life is full of injustice and that it is impossible to escape it or to protect those you love the most: "the boy..seeking comfort."

How can I Link this to what the writer is saying?

So why did Scannell write this poem? What does he want to say?


Scannell deserted the army twice and was very affected by what he saw in war. He thought that war was a senseless act and is clearly very angry at the waste of life war engenders. He believes that the government are careless with human life reflected in the bitter tone of  the poem. Scannell thinks that life is full of unavoidable pain and pointless suffering.

Scannell also seems to think that day-to-day life is unjust, uncontrollable and full of danger. He would like to stop his son from feeling pain but seems to believe that suffering and cruelty are part of nature, reflected in the growing back of the nettles, and therefore he is powerless to prevent it. The line "watery grin", "tender skin" and then his fury reveal the strong love he feels for his son but in the end, he says that he cannot protect his son from hardships and pain in life. He feels hopeless. Ultimately, it is a pessimistic poem perhaps reflecting his own unhappy experiences in life: life hurts you and no sooner than you have dealt with one problem, another grows back in its place.

How can I Link this to another poem?

The Manhunt - another poem about life being full of pain and suffering. It also has military imagery.

Harmonium- this poem is about pain in father son relationships and uses imagery to represent aspects of the relationship similarly to Nettles.

Praise Song for My Mother - This is quite different in tone but is also about parent child relationships

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