Similarities Between Nettles And Sister Maude

The two poems which I am studying are Nettles by Vernon Scannell and Sister Maude by Christina Rossetti . Both of the poems are based on relationship. Nettles is the relationship between father and son . The father who is trying to protect his son from hurting himself in a nettle bed . In Sister Maude the relationship is between sisters and how betrayal can rip a family apart.
Nettles by Vernon Scannell is a poem about the love of father and son. The poem is about the feelings of the poet towards the son and the nettles. He becomes very angry because the nettles hurt his son, the anger and frustration the poet has towards these nettles is seen as the Nettles being soldiers, we know this as the poet refers the nettles being ‘recruits’ and he says ' that regiment of spite'. The

poet was bitter towards the military because of his expierence there. The poet is also aware that he cannot protect his son from every danger. This also gives us the idea that the poet is overprotective towards his son because Vernon Scannell has lost two of his children this gives us the idea that the deep damnation of losing two sons. He does not want anything to happen to his other son. This shows that the main feeling in the poem is love and sadness. The attitude that the poet shows is anger also concern.
Vernon Scannell uses simple language in the poem nettles. Words used are also military language – ‘spears, regiment, parade, recruits’ and ‘wounds’ which refers back at the time of him being a member of the army. The child is presented using emotive language, we know this as the poet says in sympathy for his injured son ‘’ white blisters beaded on his tender skin’’ also the alliteration used with the ‘b’ in the quote is suggesting the swelling and pain.
The sympathy the speaker feels for his injured son: "White blisters beaded on his tender skin". The alliteration using the 'b' sounds suggests the swelling, painful injuries. When the poet uses the skin is ‘’tender’’ there is a strong contrast used to describe the nettles.

The structure of the poem consists of a one stanza and has rhyming lines. The poem is a narrative account and it is focused on the father's perspective of an accident involving his son
The tone is that it is contending with the message of the poem, the rhyme scheme is a reminder that it is connected to children. There is also narrative tone to the poem with a moral tone which links to war and the military language that was used .

Sister Maude is a poem by Christina Rossetti, Sister Maude is about not just sibling rivalry but a kind of hatred and jealousy that rips the sisters apart, the narrator seems to be having an affair with her lover, she starts the poem with two rhetorical questions "Who told my mother of my shame?" as the poet was in Victorian times , what she did we would call him a scandal at this time.

, it also shows that her mother was strict and really seem to care about their family reputation ,unlike her father who does not seemed to be bothered "who told my father of my dear?" which shows that her dad is consistent and reliable man , and she answers her questions saying "oh but Maude" which also tells us who told her parents about her lover. In the poem it is shown very clearly that the narrator hates her sister. This shows us the sisters had an evil bond, then she starts describing the dead body of the lover saying "cold he lies, as cold as stone" The narrator feels so sorry for the lover death and wishes her sister hadn't killed the lover and suggests her lover didn't find her sister attractive we know this as the narrator says ‘Though I had not been born at all, He'd never have looked at

you’.
The poem opens with a rhetorical question , in the poem there is also repetition on ‘Maude’. The poem also contains religious references, Because Maude had committed such a terrible deed that rather than going to heaven her sister tells her terrible deed that,. "Bide you with death and sin".

Alliteration is used in the poem to connect the speakers feelings. She describes the body of her dead lover using repetition on the ‘C’, and also repletion on the ‘S’ which imitates the hissing sound that the speaker feels at the prospect of her sister going to hell.

The structure . The poem contains 5 stanzas , four have four lines. The fifth stanza offers an extra two lines in which there is a turn, after which the mood of the poem subtly alters.