Analysis of Themes of Love in Catrin

Catrin is a poem written by Gillian Clarke about her daughter, Catrin, and the
changes in their relationship as Catrin grows up. This poem is written in two parts,
the first is an intense, vividly descriptive depiction of Catrins birth. The second
part is more subdued and reflective, as the writer comments on the similarities of
their relationship from then to now, when Catrin is much older. In contrast with the
other poems we have studied, Catrin is very modern, with no evidence of archaic
language. But similar to Ballad, the theme of love in this poem is motherly love,
a relationship between a mother and her child.
The poem opens with quite a serene tone, as the writer reminisces on quite a
commonplace, quiet time. But the lines also offer us some clues, for example hot,
white room suggests a room filled with lights, which, after reading the poem, we
now know to be a hospital room. I remember you is now repeated, emphasizing
that this is a recollection of past events. In the next few lines, a lot of alliteration is
used, for example, first, fierce confrontation which is a metaphor for birth, and
also alludes to the pain and hardship of the process. Another example of
alliteration is red rope of love which, continuing on the metaphor of birth, is an
umbilical cord, which bonds the mother to her child. The square, environmental
blank, disinfected/Of paintings or toys describes the bare hospital room, which she
wrote all over the walls with [her] words, which could be a metaphor for the cries
and shouts a mother usually gives when giving birth. The struggle to become
separate refers to the cutting of the umbilical cord, which, in the physical sense,
separates mother and child, but the next lines still continue on the topic of
separation, which is possibly foreshadowing of events to come, where they would
both want and shout to be two, to be ourselves.
Here begins the second part of Catrin, where Catrin has grown up into a
teenager. The verse starts as a continuation of the struggle that ended the first
stanza-Neither won nor lost the struggle/In the glass tank clouded with
feelings/Which changed us both. The glass tank is imagery of an incubator, where
new-born babies are kept in their first few days of life. With Still I am fighting you
off, again, the theme of a struggle to become separate is renew, albeit in a
different, more emotional way. Clarke again uses alliteration, with straight, strong,
long/Brown hair. Rosy, defiant glare further emphasizes the setting of an
argument. The imagery of her daughter is very strong, almost as if she was the one
in control in this struggle, whereas in the struggle of the first stanza, it was Clarke
who had control. There is another mention of the red rope of love, the umbilical
cord, but this time metaphorically, as it is tightening around [her] life/Trailing love
and conflict, showing that the bond between her and Catrin is still there in her
hearts pool, and influences her to this day. The last line of the poem states the
reason for this second struggle, for Catrin has asked to skate/In the dark, for one
more hour. Curiously, this may be a small and subtle reference to Wordsworths

poem Ice-skating, about the experience of ice-skating in the dark, but the reason
for this possible reference is unclear.