Poetry Analysis Nettles by Vernon Scannell
Nettles by Vernon Scannell is about the inability of parents to protect their children from all the harms in the world. As hard as parents try and fight back against the evils in the world that pose a threat to the most precious offering to parents, they can't always be there for every fall, cry and hardship of a child's nature.
Scannell, in this poem, paints a narrative where his son falls into a pile of pointy nettles and he and presumably his partner take care of their son to remove the burning and pain of these nettles. After that the author goes back behind to the shed where the bed of nettles grows and cuts them down prior to burning them. Within a short time, these nettles grow back and it is concluded that, “My son would often feel sharp wounds again.”
The “bed” of needles through the process of deceiving as well as returning after its destruction serves as a metaphor for the many deceptive and twisted ways of the world that all humans are exposed to. “'Bed' seemed a curious name for those green spears.” The curiosity of the author shows that the bed of spears is deceptive to the boy who fell into its type of trap. Towards the end, this destroyed evil grows back. “But in two weeks the busy sun and rain Had called up tall recruits behind the shed:” This process of deception and regrowth is one that is natural and unpreventable as the presence of the sun and rain imply.
The only reason the boy of three is able to be helped this time is because of his age. The presence of his age is important as it shows that parents can help children with their ailments for some time. As children age, these evils continually present themselves. As the sun and the rain grow these evils in an inevitable and natural process, these evils morph and fool as the child ages too. As they grow old, both the evils and the children, the parents lose their ability to protect their children from such dangers.
“My son would often feel sharp wounds again.” This conclusion is a sharp realization of the father and author of the poem that his son would be subjected to many potential dangers both physical and mental in the future. The ability to care for these ailments would also pass with time.