Eden Rock Flashcards
Context for the poem?
Written by Charles Causley who never married in order to care for his mother
The metaphorical river in the poem represents the River Styx, the crossing to the afterlife in Ancient Greece
The name of the poem references the Garden of Eden
How is love presented in the poem?
Familial, parent child
What are some themes in the poem?
Death, separation, reuniting
“Takes on the light”
Metaphor - the mother is angelic with the light shining through her hair, heaven
Also could have a more pessimistic meaning, now she has died she has taken all the light out of the speakers life
“Three suns”
Religious metaphor - the holy trinity, the parents are now with God and Jesus
Could also represent the family as there is 3 of them
“Beyond Eden Rock”
Preposition, Garden of Eden, however could suggest they are further than Eden and in hell
“Crossing is not as hard”
Euphemism - temptation for death to be with his parents
Also could reflect a journey of change where he discovers he doesn’t need his parents to be happy
“Leisurely”
Adverb - there is no time pressure on him, the parents are happy and relaxed
May also mean that his parents want him to join them but the speaker is against the idea
“I had not thought that it would be like this”
Lone sentence - the speaker is alone and separated from his family
He is now at peace without his parents?
Where is the Volta in the poem?
Line 14/15 - this is the first point his parents notice him as his mother “looks my way / over the drifted stream”
What is the importance of the commas around the parent’s ages?
Also called parenthesis, could emphasise their parental role with a play on words
Surrounds the ages which traps the parents at that age
Is there anything significant about the structure?
The structure includes rigid quatrain stanzas until the end where there is a tercet, which could imply the speaker has hope they can be together one day
Links to other poems?
BYMW - the first two stanzas could imply that the speaker is looking at photographs of his parents, similarly to how the speaker in BYWM is
