9.1.2

Themes

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Ordinary and Extraordinary

Eden Rock contrasts ordinary events and settings, with ideas and implications of extraordinary ones.

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Juxtaposition

  • The poem juxtaposes the language of the ordinary – ‘old H.P. Sauce bottle’, ‘his terrier Jack’, ‘the tin cups painted blue’ - with extraordinary descriptions of light – ‘the sky whitens as if lit by three suns’.
    • This gives the poem a sense of the surreal, as the narrator remembers all of these mundane (dull), ordinary moments in this surreal and unnatural setting.
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Setting

  • Causley was brought up in Cornwall, but the poem is set in an imaginary location called Eden Rock.
    • This has implications of a biblical Eden, a perfected paradise.
  • In this setting, the ordinary childhood memory of a picnic is given an extraordinary feel.

Memory in Eden Rock

Causley presents the poem as if it is a reflection on a childhood memory. It is never clear how much is real and how much is imagined.

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His parents

  • There is a clear sense that the narrator is remembering his parents as they were, and items from his past – but there is also a sense that they are in a setting that he has never been in before.
  • His father is wearing ‘the same suit’, and his mother is using ‘the same three plates.’
  • These objects are familiar, yet there is a sense that the memory is artificial - an amalgamation (mix) of past memories.
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Unease

  • Causley says that his parents are ‘waiting for [him]’, but we know he is not with them and the setting of Eden Rock is an imaginary one.
  • Therefore, the reader is left feeling uneasy as to how much is real - there is never any sure footing in this poem.

Jump to other topics

1When We Two Parted - Lord Byron (1788-1824)

2Love’s Philosophy - Percy Bysshe Shelley

3Porphyria’s Lover - Robert Browning (1812-1889)

4Sonnet 29 - Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806-1861)

4.1Sonnet 29 – ‘I think of thee!’ Analysis

5Neutral Tones - Thomas Hardy (1840-1928)

6Letters from Yorkshire - Maura Dooley (Born 1957)

7The Farmer’s Bride - Charlotte Mew (1869-1928)

8Walking Away - Cecil Day Lewis (1904-1972)

9Eden Rock - Charles Causley (1917-2003)

10Follower - Seamus Heaney (1939-2013)

11‘Mother, Any Distance’ - Simon Armitage (Born1963

12Before You Were Mine - Carol Ann Duffy (Born 1955)

13Winter Swans - Owen Sheers (Born 1974)

14Singh Song! - Daljit Nagra (Born 1966)

15Climbing My Grandfather - Andrew Waterhouse

16Grade 9 - Comparisons

16.1Grade 9 - Comparisons

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