Why 'Nettles' is Simultaneously the Best and Worst Poem in the 'Relationships' Anthology

 by Oscar Mellers

I never thought I’d write an article about ‘Nettles’ by choice. For those of you familiar with the Relationships anthology for Edexcel GCSE English Literature, you will know of the poem ‘Nettles’ by Vernon Scannell. This poem is about a father-son relationship in which the father vows to protect his son from the harm that will ultimately come his way, before accepting in the final line that there is no way to do so and that his son would ‘often feel sharp wounds again.’ The poem is in what would very much be referred to as a ‘Marmite’ situation: you either love it or you hate it. I myself despise the poem, yet I can admit the poem is simultaneously the best and worst poem in the anthology. Let me explain why.

The poem itself is very easy to write about in a timed essay, due to the memorable structure, quotations and the contextual information that interlinks with the imagery and language used within the poem. ‘Nettles’ contains a large amount of military language, describing a bed of stinging nettles as a ‘regiment of spite behind the shed,’ and ‘green spears.’ This, as I said, correlates with the context. Vernon Scannell used to be a soldier in the UK army, and spent time in hospital after suffering injury in war. For this reason, ‘Nettles’ contains this imagery as a nod to the poet’s personal life. In my recent essay, where I was left with little choice than to write about this poem, I suggested some alternate readings that the poem could be about Scannell’s own father, who couldn’t protect his child from the dangers of war. I further considered the poem being about Scannell himself, who was worried about one of his sons passing away during his lifetime, as was the case with Benjamin Scannell, his disabled child who passed away at a young age.

In addition, the structure and form of the poem compliments the language in an effective way that not only makes ‘Nettles’ more complex, but also allows for greater depth in your essays to unlock the higher marks. The poem starts by setting the tone with an anecdotal style, beginning with ‘My son aged three fell in the nettle bed.’ This style of writing further contributes to the personal connection between the poetic voice and the subject, his son, and of course helps add to the narrative of the poem. Furthermore, the demotic lexis brings a colloquial element to the piece, separating it from poems such as ‘Love’s Dog,’ where the anaphora and the use of love and hate highlight the duality of love, unlike the modern narrative of ‘Nettles.’ The other key thing to note is the cyclical structure. This form of structure allows for what you may refer to as ‘a rant’ in a poetry essay about how it mirrors the final line, where the poetic voice admits that his son would often be hurt again. This links to the opening two lines where the son is injured, creating this cyclical structure. But what is perhaps even more interesting is that the poem is written in iambic pentameter, which gives the poem a regular “flow” that is the same for each line, showing the repetitiveness of the wounds of the child, whether that be physical, or that the Nettles are a metaphor for mental pain or loss.

However, my point still stands that this poem is utterly futile. Primarily, the idea of a demotic lexis makes the poem extremely literal in what it says. When the language in a poem is deliberately more complex, it leaves the real meaning behind the piece up to interpretation, which is one of the things that makes poetry an art form. It leaves the reader questioning what the poem means and that the narrative (if there is one) differs from person to person. The poem ‘Tissue’ is notorious for being in the Power and Conflict anthology for AQA GCSE English Literature, and many people do not understand what the poem is really saying. Yet, myself and my other poetry-obsessed friend both read it and had a conversation on what we believed the poem was about, which is not only good practice for the unseen section of the GCSE, but is also interesting to see what the other person says.

Furthermore, the narrative does not strike up as much joy as those in ‘She Walks in Beauty,’ ‘My Last Duchess’ or ‘1st Date - She, 1st Date - He.’ The context of ‘She Walks in Beauty’ provides an amazing depth and breadth and height to the poem. Lord Byron, the poet, wrote this poem after seeing a lady in mourning at a party, named Mrs Willmot, and how upon looking toward the woman, he noticed that her beautiful complexion and appearance meant that her days must be spent ‘in beauty.’ ‘My Last Duchess’ also has an interesting narrative in that the poetic voice ordered the muder of his most recent romantic partner, and ‘1st Date - She, 1st Date - He,’ although not my favourite poem in the anthology (I just thought I should choose a modern poem to accentuate my point), has a narrative that displays miscommunication from the outset, which is both funny to read, but also makes you pity the poetic voices. Yet, when you read Nettles, the poem’s narrative neither excites some readers, nor interests them. 

I am by no means saying that the poem is not good to write about, in fact, it is fairly simple to do so. Additionally, the structure and form are complex enough that you can write about them in depth, without running out of time in the thirty-five minutes you have. Yet, this ‘Marmite’ poem does not excite me as much as some of the other poems in the Relationships anthology. I certainly wouldn’t write about it if I could come up with a better or equally good poem to analyse; however, ‘Nettles’ also does provide a suitable chance to exhibit a complex and experienced analysis.