Compare how "Nettles" and "Upon my Son" Show Love for their Child

Secondly in “Upon my Son” the poet, Ana Bradstreet, uses a triadic structure to emphasise how much she wanted the child. ‘The son of prayers’ of vows of tears’ the use of repetition enforces the desperation and pleading she did to get her child. She may have been desperate for her child but this, unfortunately, does not show that she loves him. However in “Nettles” the writer uses a semi-colon. ‘Behind the shed’, this make the reader pause before the next line therefore the reader takes a breadth highlighting that the father has just realised that he may not be able to protect his child for always, never mind how much he and his wife love their child.

Penultimately in “Nettles” the father realises that the child will be hurt so the parents make him as comfortable possible whilst he can still be protected by themselves. ‘My son would often feel sharp wounds again’. Implies that he will be hurt and in pain many times when he can do nothing to protect him. The word ‘often’ suggests that it will happen a lot. Also the word ‘sharp’ shows the reader that the pain that may be inflicted in life could have varying intensity levels. Furthermore the noun ‘wound’ suggests that the pain could be etched in his memory, as a wound is something you never forget unlike a scratch. Where as in “Upon my Son” the mother appears to have very unrealistic hopes as she seems to think that her son will not feel any pain in his life. ‘Forever happefy’d’ suggests that the mother believes that her son will never feel pain as she believes he will forever be happy. Pain is usually associated with making you unhappy so if he’s always happy he must not ever be in pain. The word ‘forever’ implies eternity; this highlights again the mothers’ unrealistic view of the world. However I do believe now that it could just be blinding love for her child and so she cannot see the real world.

Finally in “Nettles” the father shows love for his son through his anger. ‘Slashed in fury’ suggests that the father is angry at the nettles because they hurt his son and so the father is consumed with revenge. All he wants to do is bestow pain upon the nettles he does not care if he doesn’t kill them outright as long as they are subjected to the most pain possible. In doing this the father hopes to rid them from his garden and the child’s life so that they cannot harm his son again. He shows no mercy. The word ‘fury’ shows us that the fathers’ anger is passionate and wild towards the nettles. In comparison, in “Upon my Son” the mother uses words with connotations of love to show that she loves her son. ‘Persuade my heart I shall him see’. The word heart is usually associated with love.              In conclusion, “Upon my Son” shows the mother to be very protective and selfish, as she wants her son to be protected by someone apart from herself. The love also appears to be very desperate and the mother does not seem to realise that children grow up and sometime have to leave their mothers side. Also the mother seeming to be very unrealistic could just be blinded by love and caring for her child therefore believing things that otherwise would not be. Whilst in “Nettles” the parents appear to be very real and in the realistic world knowing that they can not always protect their son never mind how much they love him. Also the father seems very active and caring in his roles as a parent. Personally, I prefer “Nettles” to “Upon my Son” as the parents in “Nettles” show a very active role where as in “Upon my Son” the mother shows a very passive role. This could be due to one being a male and one being female therefore they could both have different types of parenting skills.