Nettles by Vernon Scannell is the poem and the relationship cluster of this poem is initially about parental love and a family relationship. Nettles is initally about parental love and a family relationship. There is a feeling of war and revenge with links to the military. The boy featured within the poem is a metaphor for the army and there is an extended metaphor of bad memories. There is a sense of protection throughout this poem and on the 11th and 12th lines, the nettles references could be replaced with soldier references (Pearson ...