In stanza five of Hoods “Parental Ode” he writes about the child fantastic life, he uses metaphorical language to do this; “No storms, No clouds, in thy blue sky foreseeing, / play on, play on, / my elfin John”, the name of the child is also mentioned in this stanza, his name is “John”, the child is playing games like any child of his age; “Toss the light ball-Bestride the stick” the four lines 40 – 43 of this stanza are undercut in line 44 in the monosyllabic language that Hood uses through-out the poem to express the ideal”(I knew so many cakes would make him sick!)”, in line 47 the child, John is playing like a lamb, he is playing happily with the ”light ball” and the “stick” when really the child has “(…Got the scissors, snipping at your gown!)” revealing again the Childs mischievous nature.
In stanza six Hood tells us of how he is afraid foe the child; “(I wish that window had an iron bar!)”, he is afraid that the child could have an accident, which could be potentially tragic. Through out he uses irony and humour, t the end of the poem, in the last three lines he uses a rhyming triplet, this gives the poem a sense of completeness, Hoods final touch of humour is that he cannot continue to write his laudable praise of his son unless the child is sent to bed. The first hearer of Hood’s poem is his wife, or the child’s mother.
In the first line of Ann Bradstreet’s 17th century poem, “Upon My Son Samuel his Going for England, Novem.6.1657” she addresses a “mighty God”, an omnipotent being, creator of sea and land. The poem resembles her speech to God, it is a prayer. She uses strong iambic tetrameter throughout the poem. In second line, Bradstreet resigns her first born back “into thy hand” have God. Her son was a “son of prayers, of vows of tears” he, her son was a gift from God and now she is returning that gift to Gods hand so that this omnipotent God can guide him safely and protect him “from storms and wrack”, Unlike Hoods “Parental Ode”, Bradstreet doesn’t idolise son but simply shows her total faith in God to ask for the safety of her son. Both poems have a universal theme, in Hoods he tells the reader of how life is with children whereas Bradstreet uses the maternal emotions felt by the mother towards the safety of her son.
The child that God gave her she has looked after and loved “for many years”. At the start of line six Bradstreet uses and imperative “hear me again, I give him thee” to command God to lichen, “I give him to thee” she is entrusting her precious son’s safety (who is of great importance and value to her) to God, this shows her unmitigated belief in God. This also reflects her inner strength. Through most of the poem she uses monosyllabic language, this shows simplicity and sincerity. Bradstreet shows her total acceptance of Gods power. In line nine she tells us of how she has “no friend I have like thee to trust” her main and only true friend is in God “for mortal helps are brittle dust” in this line she reminds us of our own mortality, we were born from dust and in the end we will return to dust.
In line fourteen after the full stop she adds a conditional if, and asks God to “spare me a space”, that I again may see his face”, Bradstreet is asking God to save her space on earth and she hopes that she will be able to see her sons face again. She says that she will “celebrate thy praise, and bless thee for’t even all my days”. In line eighteen Bradstreet quotes the lords prayer “thy will be done” this shows her great belief in God; she believes that Gods will is best and that she will see her son again in heaven. Bradstreet believes that Gods will is best even if it means the death of her or her son. Bradstreet does not seek her own happiness she is self less. We assume that Bradstreet’s son Samuel is going over to England to fight in a war.
In the final line of the poem Bradstreet uses a simple use of archaic form of the verb “happefy’d” and she looks forward to eternal bliss, “persuade my heart I shall him see/For ever happefy’d with thee”. She has a deep sense of resignation as she puts the safe keeping of her son into Gods hands.
Ann Bradstreet was the first woman poet and first American poet, her first book of poetry was published in 1650, and this was published without her expressed permission, this first book contained a selection of her religious and intellectual poems, her second book containing her works about her home and family was published after her death in 1672. She was married in 1628 to Simon Bradstreet, and was the daughter of a Steward. After two years of marriage they sailed on the Arbella to start a new life in America. This is where they created a small home together in the wilderness which was later to be shared with their eight children, The poem is about her son Samuel, he was her oldest child. They were puritans and believed that material possessions were unnecessary and they enjoyed a simple life that was based on hard work and a devotion to God. Bradstreet died in 1672. We don’t know what happened to Samuel or if Bradstreet saw him again before she died.
Scannell twentieth-century poem “Nettles” is an allegory, the moral being that the parents will be unable to protect to child throughout life in everything he does. This is similar to My Son Samuel by Ann Bradstreet as she wishes to protect her son as he voyages to England and she resigns the safety of her son into the hands of an omnipotent God. The boy in Scannell’s poem has fallen into the “nettle bed” and this is the trigger for his poem. A parent is narrating the poem and its theme is the universal image of parental anxiety and concern for the child. The boy can be any boy, in any place, anywhere as this is a universal image.
The first seven lines of this poem tell us of the child’s suffering. Scannell tells us directly of his son’s age “my son aged three”; this is similar to Hood’s “Parental Ode” where his son is about the same age. The boy has bee attacked by nettles when he has fallen in to “the nettle bed”. In line two Scannell discusses the word “bed” the word is normally associated with comfort and rest, but in this poem it is a curious name for those “green spears”. He describes the nettles as a “regiment of spite” using military metaphors and images to describe these “green spears”. Scannell uses personification as he describes the nettles as being like a fully trained army by using metaphors associated with warfare. The position of these nettles is “behind the shed”. They are hidden; lying in wait like any well trained army does against their rival and enemy.
The boy’s response is to go to his parents “in sob’s and tears”. Scannell tells us of how the parents “soothed him till his pain was not so raw”. Scannell uses the onomatopoeic word “soothed”, and we can almost feel the pain that “the boy” is suffering and the parent’s gentle attempts to soothe the upset child. “The boy” offers the parent's a “watery grin” in response to their soothing and their comfort. He is trying to be brave by smiling through the tear. “The boy” remains unnamed throughout the poem he is innocent and venerable and he depends solely on his parents for safety and love. This shows that he poem has a universal appeal. It could resemble any son, any age, any place. In line six Scannell uses alliteration to depict the “blisters beaded2, and this image of pain is effectively juxtaposed with the Childs “tender skin”.
The response of one of the parents is to exact his anger on the “fierce parade” as they are the source of his son’s suffering. He “horned the blade” and “slashed” violently through them. He vents his anger on these nettles and cuts them down; this is a violent image of the parent fighting with these “nettles”. He uses a “funeral pyre to burn the fallen dead” an image from classical warfare. But two weeks later the “sun and rain had called up tall recruits behind the shed” the nettles despite his attempts to end the suffering of “the boy”. Nature had re-established the “nettle bed”; his attempts were in vain.
Scannell is reminiscent of Bradstreet; he wishes to protect “the boy” from pain and suffering. Bradstreet “resigns into thy hand” of God the son she can no longer protect. Scannell wishes to stop his son from feeling the “sharp wounds” emotionally and physically in the same was that Bradstreet does. Scannell ends with a reflective line as he admits defeat that he cannot always protect his son from emotional pain in the future; “my son would often feel the sharp wounds again.”
The rhythm of this poem is iambic pentameter; this is like Bradstreet’s as she writes using iambic tetrameter, both of these poems is reflecting the rhythm of normal speech. It is a formal stretcher with alternative lines rhyming. “My son aged Three fell in the nettle bed/.../that regiment of spite behind the shed”, it is not in stanza but in a formal block of writing. The nettles are made to seem as a fully trained army with an evil intention to hurt the child despite the parent’s act in vain to end the reign of terror of the “nettles”. To show this Scannell effectively uses personification to depict the “green spears” as a malevolent army.
In each of the poems there are a selection of similarities, in “a parental ode” and “nettles” is about the narrators son and not Hood’s or Scannell’s son, unlike these two “my son Samuel”, Bradstreet is asking for the safety of her son, this is autobiographical. All of the poems address a universal issue of the parent’s anxiety to protect their child. “My Son Samuel” and “a Parental Ode” both have exact total’s explaining the person they are writing about, both poems also mention the name of the child. My personal opinion of the three poems is that they all relate to any child, any Scenario, any where giving the three a universal aspect, I certainly enjoyed “parental Ode” as Hood made the poem humorous by the sharp contrast in the language and in his sons behaviour, as he uses hyperbole to explain the Childs idyllic behaviour, and simple monosyllabic language to describe the reality.
