A level poem summary sheet on 'Burning Nettles by Gillian Clarke' including notes on stanza by stanza analysis, form, structure, techniques, themes and overviews. Perfect for A level revision of Gillian Clarke poetry or perfect even for templates on how to analyse poetry.
CONTENT: This poem is about the speaker (Clarke) in late summer clearing out their garden
of nettles and weeds and burning them in preparation for autumn.
THEME: Cycle of Nature, Rituals, Spirituality, Rebirth
Key points for essay:
STANZA BY STANZA ANALYSIS:
1ST Stanza:
The emphasis on vitality and life as water is freely ‘springing and pooling’. Beach trees
having ‘foresight’ introduces this sense of spiritual awareness and foreshadows the coming
of autumn. ‘Wrinkling’ contrasts with the water earlier as it suggests lack of vitality and age.
The use of future tense and strong declarative emphasises the certainty of nature in that no
matter what happens its cycle remains the same – there is a predictability to it. ‘Old garden’
suggests time and history is warped into this garden. The image of ‘plumpness’ and ‘shrinks’
implies decay and deterioration.
2nd Stanza:
The personification of the scythe bleeding ‘ancient herbs’ suggests how it is covered in the
remnants of herbs it is killing and has released ancient and disturbing memories suggested
by the word ‘ghost’. This disturbing memory could be the memory of the garden as it once
was before it grew out of control which haunts the speaker. The possessive pronoun ‘my fire
of nettles crackles’ suggests the speaker feels a sense of pride and achievement from
creating this fire. The simile of bees ‘creeping’ is quite sinister and dark and ties in with the
reference to ghosts and disturbed memories creating that eerie feeling. The white smoke
could be metaphoric of the white smoke that comes from witchcraft rituals as they burn
different herbs and so forth relating once again to high spiritual activity. Marged and Nanu
are names of people who previously lived in the house Clarke lives in and so add to this idea
of memories, ghosts and ancient histories. The combination of ‘strange, sweet plants’
suggests a lack of familiarity with nature.
3rd Stanza:
Reaping hook blade – symbolic of grim reapers blade of death adding to tone of decay and
death. The ‘exhausted moth’ maybe suggests that the summer was very hot and the moth
seemed too tired to even be able to fly away from the fire. The idea of the moth being saved
in vain emphasises the harsh conditions of the seasons and how they affect the smallest of
creatures, as they are barely able to survive them. The metaphoric ‘cave’ suggests privacy
and isolation. The personification of the fire having a heart is a very powerful image as it
portrays the fire as having a desire to purge the garden of all the nettles. Crucible could hint
to the purging of all types of plants both fragrant and sour from the garden. The short
sentence ‘only soil survives’ emphasises the power of the fire to completely destroy and
eradicate all traces of these ancient herbs and plants.
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