Harmonium and Nettles Essay

Harmonium and Nettles both highlight the theme of memory. As they both are looking back over past memories that are painful, the poems feature the steps of being helpless in stopping the hurt that was caused. The generator in Harmonium feels remorse for the things he hadnt said to his father as Armitage states then mouth in reply some change sorry phrase or word too starved of pinch to make itself heard. The writer in Nettles is protective of the recurring terror to his child that he cant destroy. rain had called up high recruits behind the shed, this quote shows the father cannot destroy them .They differ in the itinerary they felt powerless however as in Nettles the father is feeling powerless because of a physical threat whereas in Harmonium it is an delirious threat of the inevibility of death and unspoken feelings that makes the writer feel powerless.Furthermore they both include the reality of family life as the poems are realistic and the poems, especially Nettles, ha ve both the love and blow of family relationships. In Nettles the love in the poem is the protective instincts of a parent towards his son simply the misery is the Nettles that had hurt his child and the fact that being protective isnt abounding to stop him from getting hurt. The realistic relationship in Harmonium is the family bile and frustration from a son to his father. We can tell that the writer resents and is spoil by his father as it says and he being him cant help but say. and I, being me which shows that he is frustrated at their relationship. However the Harmonium is used to describe his father so whence his family life whereas in Nettles it is reversed. The Nettles, that had caused pain for the boy, is actually describing soldiers and war therefore the underlie message is not about family but about war and the central message in Harmonium is not about the Harmonium but about family.