strong bonds pt2 Flashcards
whilst in Eden Rock a strong spiritual bond exists despite death, in Climbing My Grandfather the speaker wants to know his grandfather as he is in the present. (CMG)
‘grip’
L= verb, shows the speaker is climbing on his grandad
I= get a grip on him emotionally and know him better
‘summit’
L= noun, compares his grandad to a mountain, shows a strong bond he is a stable, solid presence in his life and also has a big presence
I= like a mountain there is always more to explore and he wants to establish the bond
whilst in Eden Rock a strong spiritual bond exists despite death, in Climbing My Grandfather the speaker wants to know his grandfather as he is in the present. (ER)
‘Her hair … takes on the light’
L= can be interpreted as symbolising heavenly light, illustrating that he perceives his mother in an idealised way as angelic, Madonna-like figure. C = Causley had a strong bond with his mother and nursed her for six years until her death, which explains his idealisation of her.
‘the sky whitens as if lit by three suns’
Breaks the realism of the first 3 stanzas, becomes surreal. Suggestive of a heavenly or spiritual light. I = speaker reunited with parents in afterlife OR Holy Trinity.
Stream = symbolizes liminal space between life and afterlife that he must cross to join them.
in Eden Rock strong bonds are evoked through photographs however, in Climbing my Grandfather the speaker wants to bond because of his grandfathers personality. (CMG)
‘warm ice’
L=oxymoron, his grandfathers skin is smooth like ice but warm flesh, shows love when he touches, he warms to him
D= on the surface the grandfather seems cold but also has a warm heart
‘glassy ridge’
L= noun, raised scar tissue
D= shows his grandfathers life is hard work physically he has picked up scars but also suggests he may have emotionally, suggests speaker respects him for that
in Eden Rock strong bonds are evoked through photographs however, in Climbing my Grandfather the speaker wants to bond because of his grandfathers personality (ER)
‘They are waiting for me somewhere beyond Eden Rock: My father, twenty five, in the same suit’.
L = adjective ‘same’ – moment frozen in time. C = Causley’s father died when he was seven; his memories based on photographs of father when younger R = this makes the poem moving and poignant for the reader. Present continuous tense - bond not broken despite the passage of time; certainty that he will be reunited with his parents. Causley’s mother a strong Christian member of church. ‘Eden’ – biblical association with paradise and heaven. C = not a real physical place (like heaven?)
Both poems use nature to present strong bonds (CMG)
‘earth stained hand’
L= noun phrase, he has practical work and likes earth and nature
C= poet was a lecturer in agriculture, reflects grandfather may have inspired him into it
Both poems use nature to present strong bonds (ER)
‘drifted stream’
L= metaphorically the stream may represent the separation between life and after life however they still have a strong bond despite this, it represents the liminal space
C= River Styx in greek mythology was the boundary between the earth and the underworld
STRUCTURE: whilst in Climbing my Grandfather the poet uses a monosyllabic last line to show the bond in ‘Eden Rock’, Causley breaks the regular quatrains with a single line stanza which implies that he is finally reunited with his parents in the afterlife, (CMG)
‘the slow pulse of his good heart’
replicates the steady beat of his heart
emphasizes his father is a good man
I= emphasizes his grandfathers steady presence and love
STRUCTURE: whilst in Climbing my Grandfather the poet uses a monosyllabic last line to show the bond in ‘Eden Rock’, Causley breaks the regular quatrains with a single line stanza which implies that he is finally reunited with his parents in the afterlife, (ER)
‘I had not thought it would be like this’.
Single line stanza breaks quatrain pattern. Structurally implies he has crossed the divide (represented by the stanza break) from life into the afterlife.
L = pronoun ‘it’ is deliberately vague.
D = reflects fact that death is beyond linguistic representation.
