“NETTLES”

BY VERNON SCANNELL
Ms Sweeney
Nettles by Vernon
Scannell
◦British poet and author
◦Served in the army during WWII

◦The poem is a short account of the day that the poet's

son was stung by nettles – and what happened
afterwards.
◦But more interesting than the events are the shadows of
war that linger in the mind of the ex-soldier father, causing
him to meditate on the cyclical nature of pain and
violence.
 Reading the Poem
READING 1: READING 2: READING 3:
What do I think What do I think the poem is What do I think the poem is about?
the poem is about?
about? • Give each stanza a title. * Who is speaking in the poem? Is it
the poet or a character? Why?
* Highlight the words that you think are
most important in conveying the * The poem says “green spears”. Who
meaning of the poem. is the poet referring to?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Wttwy0recg&ab_channel=SpokenVerse
 Nettles by Vernon Scannell
My son aged three fell in the nettle bed. • Contrast between nettle and bed- bed suggests comfort but a
‘nettle bed’ is the complete opposite.

'Bed' seemed a curious name for those green spears,

• ‘green spears’- use of metaphor- like tiny green soldiers
attacking his son.

• regiment is a unit in the army.

That regiment of spite behind the shed:
• Spite- malice/hurt and behind the shed- tells us the location.

It was no place for rest. With sobs and tears
The boy came seeking comfort and I saw
White blisters beaded on his tender skin.
• Boy ran to his father, in tears and the effects of the nettles now
appearing on his skin.
• Unlike the green spears, the boy is ‘tender’.

• ‘watery grin’- the boy is feeling a bit better now.

We soothed him till his pain was not so raw.
At last he offered us a watery grin,
 Nettles by Vernon Scannell
•
The father/poet got his blade and ‘honed’ it- sharpened it
And then I took my hook and honed
the blade
And went outside and slashed in • He went outside in a hurry and started to slash all the nettles
fury with it till there wasn’t any left.
Till not a nettle in that fierce parade • Use of ‘fierce’- reinforces the poets view that the nettles are
dangerous and cause hurt
Stood upright any more. Next task: I • Use of ‘parade’- referring to the military parade/enemy
lit

• He then starts a fire to hold a ‘funeral’, ‘pyre’ is a pile of

combustible material.
A funeral pyre to burn the fallen
dead. • However, in two weeks, the ‘tall recruits’ will be back.
But in two weeks the busy sun and
rain
• Last line- the poet realises that he will not be able to protect his
Had called up tall recruits behind the
son for forever and that he will be hurt again.
shed:
My son would often feel sharp
 Poetic techniques

Rhyme Repetition Metaphor Imagery

Rhyming
Personification Alliteration Assosance
Scheme
 Themes

Parents and
Love Relationships
Children

War
Meaning of the poem
◦ Robert Frost describes the process of gathering leaves as a part of the
harvest which gives him no gratification, starts the poem off on a
complaint.
◦ The poem takes us through the time consuming process of gathering
leaves.
◦ At the end of the poem, the speaker is left with nothing but a shed full
of dull, weightless leaves.
◦ Yet, the speaker knows that gathering leaves is essential for the
harvest.