Eden Rock

Question 1

Author:

Answer 1

Causley

Question 2

‘They are waiting for me somewhere beyond Eden Rock’

• MEMORY
• DEATH

Answer 2

Reference to paradise or the Garden of Eden - suggests narrator is close to death or perhaps, a memory from childhood (parents could be beckoning him to join them in afterlife).
‘Somewhere’ - vague description (indicates imagined scene).
‘Waiting for me’ - present tense makes scene feel more vivid.

Question 3

‘The sky lightens as if lit by three suns’

- NATURE

Answer 3

Hints at something otherworldly, contrasts with experiences described in stanza 1 - it’s like a heaven.
Three suns - symbolise that family of three has been reunited.

Question 4

Leisurely / They beckon to me from the other bank. I hear them call, “See where the stream path is! Crossing is not as hard as you might think”
- STRONG BONDS

Answer 4

‘Leisurely’, the word placed at the beginning for emphasis - interpret it as ‘dying isn’t terrible’ or ‘life and its challenges won’t be as hard as you think’.
‘Stream-path’ is no longer a barrier but a narrow strip of water that can be easily crossed so they can be together - understated emotion beneath their words.

There is a long tradition of death being represented by a stream or river. For example, Christians may see the River Jordan as the barrier to cross to reach paradise. In Greek mythology, the River Styx had to be navigated to reach the Underworld. Charles Causley’s stream is a benign version.

Question 5

Compare with:

Answer 5

Follower - lasting bonds of parent/child relationship
Before You Were Mine - vivid childhood memories
Letters From Yorkshire - how distance is overcome