Compare the ways in which the three poets present parent child relationships Essay Example

the rope and causes her Mother to worry for her safety.The parent-child relationship in this poem is shown as being endless, they are constantly attached by love and however far her daughter pulls away the Mother feels as though they will always be connected.In "A Parental Ode..

." The parent-child relationship is different, the poet is attempting to write the perfect poem about his son, but things keep getting in the way, namely his sons behaviour. The boys Father is continually trying to protect him and trying to stop him damaging himself or others."Thou merry, laughing sprite!With spirits feather-light!Untouched by sorrow and unsoiled by sin -(Good heavens! The child is swallowing a pin!)"Although the poet is attempting to portray his son as the perfect little child, in the background his real behaviour continues in parody of the lines his Father is writing.

The child is not truly evil, merely mischievous and "elfin".The main part of the poem (the lines outside the brackets) are written in a flowery, ornate style, the complete opposite of the frank account of the boys real behaviour which in enclosed in brackets. Inside the brackets are a few humorous lines of what the boy is really doing while his Father is writing the poem. These break up the poem and make it less dull.The poem "A parental ode..

." shows the two sides of a parent-child relationship, like a flipping coin, a child's behaviour can change in a second, from"Thou imp of mirth and joy"To the child he really is, tipping over ink and "swallowing a pin!" So although the relationship is a good one, at times it becomes slightly strained when the

boy is misbehaving, much to his parents angst. For example, in the third stanza the young boy is portrayed as"Thou human humming-bee, extracting honeyFrom every blossom in the world that blows"The humming-bee is used as a metaphor, bees fly around, they are furry and adorable, collecting sweet honey, on the flip side of the coin they can sting viciously if annoyed. This metaphor also represents the Father's relationship with his son, on one side he is sweet and innocent, on the other he is mischievous and is trying to get into everything.In the third poem "Nettles" The parent-child relationship is different again, it is written from a Father's point of view.

This poem explores the protective feelings of a Father towards his son, when his son fell in a bed of nettles his Father went out and slaughtered them all,"And then I took my billhook, honed the bladeAnd went outside and slashed in fury with itTill not a nettle in that fierce paradeStood upright any more."The nettles I think are merely a metaphor for his son's whole life. A Father or Mother will spend an awful lot of time and energy protecting their son or daughter, in this particular instance they are protecting their son from nettles. But in the future it could be from anything.This is yet another angle on a parent-child relationship, the responsibility of the relationship of the parent towards the child, if the child falls ill it is the parents who must or should care for him/her.This example is also shown in "Catrin" when the daughter is asking for the freedom to skate outside, children all need their freedom, but they

also need protection, which is what the Father is providing in the poem "Nettles" But even if he can protect his son from those nettles, they will grow back and he will be hurt in the future.

"My son would often feel sharp wounds again"That line is very vague, the nettles are not referred to which I think means that the son will often be hurt in the future but his Father will still try to protect him from anything which might hurt him.The same image is given in "A parental ode...

"The young boys Father is also trying to protect his son from anything which might hurt him,"He's got a knife!""He's got the scissors, snipping at your gown!"These are presumably shouted warning from the Father who is trying to write a poem, but his son is wandering round picking up things which could hurt him.In all these three poems the parent-child relationship is a protective one, the parents are trying desperately to shield their sons or daughters from harm. This is how the three different poets have presented the images of their relationships with their children, their feelings of responsibility and protectiveness towards the children.