Eden Rock

• Who wrote Eden Rock?

  Charles Causley
• What era was Eden Rock written in?

  Modern
• They are waiting for me somewhere beyond Eden Rock /

  My father, twenty-five, in the same suit /

  Of genuine Irish tweed, his terrier Jack /

  Still two years old and trembling at his feet.
• My mother, twenty-three, in a sprigged dress /

  Drawn at the waist, ribbon in her straw hat, /

  Has spread the stiff white cloth over the grass. /

  Her hair, the colour of wheat, takes on the light.
• She pours tea from a Thermos, the milk straight /

  From an old H.P. sauce bottle, a screw /

  Of paper for a cork; slowly sets out /

  The same three plates, the tin cups painted blue.
• The sky whitens as if lit by three suns. /

  My mother shades her eyes and looks my way /

  Over the drifted stream. My father spins /

  A stone along the water. 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.'
• I had not thought that it would be like this.
• What is significant about the title Eden Rock?

  The word 'Eden' refers to paradise and life after death. The word 'Rock' suggests something solid and reliable.
• What is significant about the word 'waiting'?

  It is a present participle
• What is significant about the word 'still' in the following line: 'Still two years old and trembling at his feet.'?

  It highlights that the poem is set in the past
• What does the word 'sprigged' suggest about the mother?

  She is young and innocent
• Why does the word 'sprigged' suggest the mother is young and innocent?

  It means flowery and flowers are often associated with youth
• What is significant about the cloth being 'white'?

  White is a symbol of purity
• What is significant about the following line: 'Her hair, the colour of wheat, takes on the light.'?

  It is the first reference to light in the poem and depicts the mother as angelic
• Why is it significant that the mother is depicted as angelic?

  Because it emphasises the fact that the poem is about death
• What is significant about the third stanza of Eden Rock?

  It depicts a picnic which represents domesticity and is a very simple memory
• What is the main feeling presented throughout the poem?

  Nostalgia
• What is significant about the following line: 'The sky whitens as if lit by three suns.'?

  It hints at something otherworldly since it is unnaturally bright and blinding - it is also the second reference to light in the poem
• What is significant about the following line: 'Over the drifted stream. My father spins'?

  The caesura emphasises the distance between life and death, the voice and his parents
• What is significant about the following lines: '...Leisurely / They beckon to me from the other bank,'?

  The enjambment is a link between stanzas as well as a link between life and death
• What is significant about the following lines: I hear them call, 'See where the stream-path is! / Crossing is not as hard as you might think.'?

  They include direct speech
• What is significant about the final stanza of Eden Rock?

  It is split into a tercet and a stand-alone line to emphasise the distance between life and death
• What are the key themes in Eden Rock?

  Family relationships, memory and distance
• What is significant about the poem being a biblical reference to the Garden of Eden?

  The Garden of Eden was a perfect place which implies that the voice thinks the place with his parents was perfect
• What is significant about the language about memory used in Eden Rock?

  It creates vivid scenes of the voice's childhood which reflects how special his childhood is to him
• What is significant about the references to light throughout Eden Rock?

  They suggest a heavenly setting