Eden Rock

• ‘My father, twenty-five, in the same suit/Of Genuine Irish Tweed’ 


  The narrator seems to take comfort in remembering specific details about his parents. Their clothing is quite formal which brings an air of occasion to the scene. These beautiful details show how precious the memory of his mother is to the narrator. The beautiful and peaceful descriptions of his parents reflect how special his childhood is to him.
• ‘Has spread the stiff white cloth over the grass’

  White is a colour representing innocence and purity. The references to light may suggest a heavenly setting.
• ‘Her hair the colour of wheat, takes on the light’

  The light in his mother’s hair creates an angelic image as if she is wearing a halo. It is reminiscent of the transfiguration of Jesus where his appearance changed …..a sign of God.
• “The sky whitens as if lit by three suns"

  This hints at something otherworldly, in contrast with the ordinary descriptions of the first five stanzas, it is like a heavenly light. The repetition of the word “white” creates a holy image of innocence and purity. The three suns could represent that their family of three has been reunited. It uses religious imagery as it implies the holy trinity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit
• ‘Over the drifted stream’

  Even the stream is peaceful. This suggests he should not have any trouble crossing it to get to his parents. The river stream is the borderline between two worlds: Styx in Greek mythology was the boundary between life on earth and life in the kingdom of the dead.
• “I had not thought it would be like this”

  The final line is heavily ambiguous as it is unclear whether this is because it is good or bad. It has connotations of the afterlife. The poet uses monosyllabic language which creates a tone of childlike simplicity making the narrator’s longing for his parents even more significant. The fact that the final line is separated from the rest of the stanza suggests that although we may find comfort in our memories and visions, in the final moment just before death and crossing into the afterlife, we are alone.
• Structure and Form 


  The poem is made up of five stanzas mostly four lines long and nearly every line has ten syllables – this regular structure reflects the steady and constant love between the narrator and his parents. The final line is separated from the rest of the stanza – this could emphasise the narrator’s separation from his parents, or it could show that he has now crossed the stream and is looking at what’s beyond. The poem mainly uses half rhymes, which creates a gentle natural rhythm but also suggests that the narrator feels incomplete without his parents.