Eden Rock

1. 'somewhere beyond Eden Rock

   Annotations:

   • 'Somewhere after death' 'Somewhere' reflects the fact the what happens after death is unknown, maybe it is whatever you want it to be. 'Eden' links to the garden of Eden, Adam and Eve, like heaven/ sanctuary and this highlights the important of his parents to him because his idea of heaven is with them.
2. 'Takes on the light'

   Annotations:

   • Presents his mother as an angelic figure, suggests Causley sees his parents as godly, also links back to the fact that his mother is already dead.
3. 'The sky whitens as if lit by three suns' 'three plates'

   Annotations:

   • ++Repetition of the number three links to the holy trinity, links to the fact his parents are in heaven, and Causley wants to reunite with them. Also presents his parents as 'god- like', suggesting he loved and looked up to them a great deal. Also links to some peoples belief that the dead turn into stars, as suns are big starts, the three suns could represent Causley and his parents when Causley dies and they are reunited together again.

1. 'her hair, the colour of wheat, takes on the light'
   1. 'Milk/paper/white/whitens

      Annotations:

      • Repeated reference to white, links to purity and innocence, how Causley wants to feel in heaven, maybe why he is describing a scene from when he must have been very young and innocent. White also links to angels and ghosts, links back again to reccuring theme of death throughout and the fact that there may be life after death, like angel or ghost.

1. 'Spread the stiff white cloth'

   Annotations:

   • Links to death because when people die, they're covered in white sheets/cloths White links to innocence, purity and angels and the idea of life after death.
2. 'Over the drifted stream

   Annotations:

   • Causley is on one side of the stream, his dead parents on the other, so the stream separates life and death. Note the use that stream has been used, not river/sea ect, which suggests that there is a thin line between life and death. Also it is easy to cross a stream, which implies that dying isn't hard. 'Drifted' has connotations of peacefulness and calmness, which suggests that there is no rush in death, it is peaceful, tranquil.
3. 'Crossing is not as hard as you might think'

   Annotations:

   • Reference to the fact many people fear death, but Causley thinks it should not be feared, and it is not hard because it will happen when the time is right.
4. 'My mother shades her eyes and looks my way'

   Annotations:

   • She can't see Causley clearly because they are separated in life and death.
5. I had not thought it would be like this'

   Annotations:

   • Death is not how he expected, he has changed and realised this. This is represented by how this line is separated from the rest of the stanzas, all written in quatrains in a regular structure. The separation of this last line again physically represents the separation between life and death, however is is again shown to be small because it is in the same stanza as the other lines so there is not much distance between them. It could show how death has separated him from his parents but he is not far from them as he is near death.

Annotations:

• Shows how smoothly life flows into death and the afterlife

1. 'Slowly sets out'

   Annotations:

   • Relaxed, leisurely feel. Implies there is no rush in death, it is slow and peaceful and happens when the time is right.

1. Leisurely

   Annotations:

   • Another suggestion that death is slow, peaceful, tranquil
2. Slowly

   Annotations:

   • Death is not rushed,