Eden Rock

• Key themes


  • Loss, Childhood, Separation over time, Reuniting, Memory
  • Relationship parent / child
  • Love
  • Parental, Enduring
• It is a very metaphorical poem, which employs a lot of natural imagery to imply the significance of the parental relationship
• As the poem is written after both of Causley's parents have died, in 1988, it could be assumed that he is attempting to reflect on his parents from the perspective of his childhood memories (the parents are frozen at the ages of "twenty-five" and "twenty-three")
• The stream


  Often viewed as a metaphor for the separation between the earth and the afterlife
• The title "Eden Rock" refers to a fictional location in Cornwall that Causley has created
• The speaker's parents are described in their youth showing his idolisation of them in their prime
• The idea of the light coming through her hair


  Creates an angelic image
• "three suns"


  Can be taken to represent the family triangle: mother, father and speaker. Symbolic of purity and the concept of the holy trinity
• "Leisurely"


  Doesn't imply a time pressure on Causley to enter the afterlife, if we take the metaphorical meaning of the poem as Causley's parents attempting to convince him to join them in the afterlife. Also slows down the rhythm of the poem, showing the reluctance of Charles to follow his parents
• Third person plural pronouns


  Distances the speaker from his parents
• "Beckon"


  Relates to temptation and persuasion, referencing reuniting the family and is a positive embrace
• Enjambment


  Creates caesura, which highlights the relaxed pace of this section of the poem
• "drifted stream"


  Implies that the memory is hazy for the speaker
• "Crossing"


  Into the afterlife. Reference to a journey / travel / movement. Crossing between time periods, or a generational divide, or simply different locations?
• The last line is separate from the rest of the poem to symbolise the separation the speaker experiences from his parents
• Exclamatory punctuation


  Causeley employs exclamatory punctuation in the line "see where the stream-path is!" to connote enthusiasm which juxtaposes with the morose tone of the poem
• Juxtaposition


  Comparing two concepts, characters, or clauses, in close proximity in a passage for the effect of contrast
• Stable structure


  Causley uses a fixed structure of quatrains throughout the poem. However, the final line of the last stanza has been separated, which could symbolise the gap between life and death, the physical stream presented in the poem, or the separation between the speaker and his parents
• Iambic pentameter


  Each quatrain has roughly ten syllables per line which creates a steady tone: this may reflect the stable relationship between the writer and his parents
• Half-rhyme


  Causley uses half-rhymes such as 'dress' and 'stress', and 'hat' and 'light' which could reflect an incomplete nature of their relationship. This may relate to the separation of the speaker and his parents in the poem. They also create the feeling of immediacy to the tone of the poem, as full rhymes would perhaps make the tone too jovial
• The poem as a whole could be considered an elegy or an ode, as it is written largely about Charles' dead parents
• Colloquialisms


  Such as "H.P sauce bottle", "tin cups painted blue", "of Genuine Irish Tweed" create a sense of nostalgia
• Familiar tone


  The language used within the poem creates a tone of familiarity, which lends itself to suggesting the poem is recounting a memory
• Natural language


  Is used to enhance the vivid scene, such as "grass", "colour of wheat". When considered in conjunction with the theme of death and the afterlife, Causley may be suggesting that death is inevitable and how there's no way to stop the natural progression of life. Alternatively, it could be a suggestion that you don't stop loving someone after they die, and that love can easily transcend death