Eden Rock

• Eden Rock - Concepts:

  • death doesn't stop bonds of love (love transcends death)
  • the smallest of memories have great importance if we are with the people we cherish
  • no matter the events in life, we have good memories to rely on
  • everything is impermanent, we must appreciate what we have
  • we tend to remember our loved ones in their prime
  • no matter what happens to us, our loved ones are there to support us (or their memory is)
• Summary: The speaker recalls a vivid memory from his childhood in which he had a picnic with his parents. Now they have passed on, he wonders what will happen to him when he dies
• they are waiting for me somewhere beyond Eden Rock

  • otherworldly imagery - "somewhere" - no set place, links to Heaven
  • start of poem - distance. barrier cannot be overcome physically
  • "waiting" - provides comfort knowing they will soon be together again
• they beckon to me from the other bank

  • comforting memory - calling to him
  • passing river - classical allusion - afterlife - Styx
• I had not thought it would be like this

  • stands alone
  • end of poem - distance in stanza decreases from 4 lines to 3, potentially symbolising closing distance as he grows closer to death
  • not yet 'on the other side'
  • statement - ambiguous
  • death = easier now he knows he will be connected?
  • closing the distance. connected to faith
  • difficult = not ready yet? what if they aren't there?
• the sky whitens as if lit by three suns

  • vivid memory - still strong
  • "whitens" - innocent, calm, comforting
  • memory - form of heaven - religious imagery
  • "three suns" - illuminating mum's hair
  • Holy Trinity
  • Angelic (halo)


  Links to "her hair, the colour of wheat, takes on the light"
• her hair, the colour of wheat, takes on the light

  • vivid memory - still strong
  • "light" - optimistic, hope
  • admiration - angelic appearance
  • guardian angel - protect, keep safe
  • image of "heaven" - comforting. mum looking out for him.
  • religious imagery


  Links to "the sky whitens as if lit by three suns"
• My father, twenty-five, in the same suit

  • memory of father
  • stability, consistency
  • does not change
  • can trust them