Memory & Time
“Winter Swans” — Owen Sheers (2005)
Sheers presents a couple whose relationship has been strained. They walk in silence after two days of rain — the pathetic fallacy of the storm mirrors their emotional distance. But when they see swans on a lake, something shifts. As the swans leave, they are “porcelain over the stilling water” — a fragile, ornamental calm — and the couple begins to reconnect.
The poem’s turning point is nature: the swans model devotion (“they mate for life”), and the couple unconsciously mirror them. The final image — “our hands … folded, one over the other, / like a pair of wings settling after flight” — is a simile that connects the human and natural. Their hands “settling” suggests the turbulence is over. The form supports this: the poem is written in tercets (three-line stanzas) throughout — an imbalanced number suggesting discord — except the final stanza, which is a couplet (two lines), mirroring the couple coming back together.
Sheers uses form to mirror content: tercets (three-line stanzas = imbalance/discord) shift to a final couplet (two lines = the couple reunited). The swans model natural devotion, and nature heals the relationship. Pathetic fallacy shifts from storm (distance) to calm (reconciliation).
“Climbing My Grandfather” — Andrew Waterhouse (2000)
Waterhouse uses the extended metaphor of mountaineering to explore getting to know his grandfather. The speaker “climbs” the grandfather’s body as if scaling a mountain: “I decide to do it free, without a rope or net” — he approaches the relationship without safety barriers, making himself vulnerable.
Physical details map onto the climbing metaphor: the grandfather’s “earth-stained hand” becomes a handhold, his still-beating heart is discovered at the summit: “knowing / the slow pulse of his good heart.” The adjective “good” is deceptively simple — it suggests moral worth, kindness, and reliability. The word “slow” implies steadiness and age. The journey from base to summit represents deepening emotional knowledge: getting to know someone takes effort, courage, and patience.
Causley’s “Eden Rock” fits the memory and time theme through its gentle re-creation of a childhood scene. The title alludes to the Garden of Eden — a paradise before the Fall, suggesting innocence and perfection. The mundane domestic details (“H.P. Sauce bottle,” “Genuine Irish Tweed”) anchor the vision in specific, personal memory, making death feel like a return to something known and safe rather than a step into the unknown.
The poem’s pace is slow and deliberate, matching the dreamy quality of the scene. The final line — “I had not thought that it would be like this” — is both a revelation and a comfort. Time dissolves: past, present, and future merge as the speaker approaches the stream (death) with surprising calm.
Waterhouse’s mountaineering metaphor represents the effort of truly knowing someone. The “summit” (the grandfather’s heart) is the emotional core — reaching it requires vulnerability, patience, and physical closeness. Calling the heart “good” suggests reliability and trust.
Memory, Time & Connection
These three poems share a focus on how time affects relationships. Sheers shows a relationship healing in the present moment. Waterhouse explores discovery of a person across a lifetime. Causley dissolves time altogether, merging past and present at the threshold of death. All three suggest that love operates across time — it is not confined to a single moment but evolves, deepens, or transcends.
Sheers vs Waterhouse: Both use physical experience to explore emotional connection. Sheers’ couple reconnect through a shared walk (horizontal movement); Waterhouse’s speaker “climbs” to know his grandfather (vertical movement). Both end with discovery: Sheers finds reconciliation, Waterhouse finds the heartbeat.
Waterhouse vs Causley: Both explore grandparental love through physical detail. Waterhouse’s grandfather is alive (the heart still beats); Causley’s parents are dead (but the scene feels alive). Both use mundane detail to make love tangible and real.