# The Child on the Cliffs explained — Poetry

> Chapter companion for Poetry by Edward Thomas.

## What happens

A child on a cliff speaks to his mother about the strange brightness of the day, the grasshopper, and a distant bell he hears from the sea. He imagines lying dead under the foam, still able to hear the bell, and finding happiness in his mother's visits.

## Themes in this chapter

### The Cycle of Life and Death

The child contemplates death under the foam, imagining a peaceful afterlife where he can still hear the bell and his mother visits.

### Place and Belonging

The cliff, the sea, and the buoy bell create a specific coastal setting that anchors the child's thoughts and desires.

## Character check-ins

### The Child

The speaker who observes the grasshopper and the sea, and expresses a desire to be dead yet still hear the bell.

### Unknown

The mother addressed by the child, present on the cliff with a book.

## Key lines

> Mother, the root of this little yellow flower Among the stones has the taste of quinine.

Mother, the root of this small yellow flower growing among the rocks tastes like quinine.

_The child begins by describing a sensory detail of the flower._

> I should like to be lying under that foam, Dead, but able to hear the sound of the bell, And certain that you would often come And rest, listening happily.

I would like to lie beneath the foam, dead yet still able to hear the bell, knowing you would often come and rest there happily.

_The child expresses a peaceful fantasy of death, connected to the bell and his mother's presence._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_5_se/chapters/the-child-on-the-cliffs
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_5_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_5_se/chapters