Analysis Of Themes Of Love In Catrin 1w3o4l

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 Catrin’s 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 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 “heart’s 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 Wordsworth’s

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