"Catrin," by the Welsh poet Gillian Clarke, is a poem about the deep bond—and conflict—between a mother and daughter. The poem's speaker, Clarke herself, recalls the day she gave birth to her daughter, Catrin, in an austere hospital room, describing this process as a painful, messy "struggle to become two" separate human beings. This struggle lingers into the present day of the poem, as a now older Catrin defiantly asks her mother to stay out later and Clarke once again feels the sharp tug of the love that will forever tether her to her child. The poem illuminates the difficulty and necessity of letting children become more independent as they grow older. "Catrin" was published in Clarke's second poetry collection, The Sundial, in 1978.

• Read the full text of “Catrin”

• “Catrin” Summary

• “Catrin” Themes

  • 

    Mother-Daughter Closeness and Conflict

    Where this theme appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-9
    • Lines 16-17
    • Lines 18-29
  • 

    Parenthood and Transformation

    Where this theme appears in the poem:

    • Lines 9-16

• Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “Catrin”

  • Lines 1-5

    I can remember ...
    ... the traffic lights.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 6-9

    I can remember ...
    ... Fought over.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 9-13

    It was a ...
    ... Words,

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 13-17

    coloured the clean ...
    ... to be ourselves.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 18-24

    Neither won nor ...
    ... Defiant glare,

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 24-29

    bringing up ...
    ... one more hour.

    

    

    

    

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• “Catrin” Symbols

  • 

    The Dark

    Where this symbol appears in the poem:

    • Lines 28-29: “As you ask may you skate / In the dark, for one more hour.”

• “Catrin” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

  • Repetition

    

    

    

    

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    Where repetition appears in the poem:

    • Line 1: “I can remember you,”
    • Line 6: “I can remember you,”
    • Line 8: “rope”
    • Line 9: “square”
    • Line 13: “squares”
    • Line 16: “We,” “we”
    • Line 17: “To be,” “to be”
    • Line 25: “rope”

  • Metaphor

    

    

    

    

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    Where metaphor appears in the poem:

    • Lines 7-9: “the tight / Red rope of love which we both / Fought over”
    • Lines 11-16: “I wrote / All over the walls with my / Words, coloured the clean squares / With the wild, tender circles / Of our struggle to become / Separate.”
    • Lines 18-20: “Neither won nor lost the struggle / In the glass tank clouded with feelings / Which changed us both.”
    • Lines 24-27: “bringing up / From the heart's pool that old rope, / Tightening about my life, / Trailing love and conflict,”

  • Imagery

    

    

    

    

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    Where imagery appears in the poem:

    • Lines 2-5: “As I stood in a hot, white / Room at the window watching / The people and cars taking / Turn at the traffic lights.”
    • Lines 9-16: “It was a square / Environmental blank, disinfected / Of paintings or toys. I wrote / All over the walls with my / Words, coloured the clean squares / With the wild, tender circles / Of our struggle to become / Separate.”
    • Lines 21-24: “as you stand there / With your straight, strong, long / Brown hair and your rosy, / Defiant glare,”

  • Alliteration

    

    

    

    

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    Where alliteration appears in the poem:

    • Line 3: “window,” “watching”
    • Line 4: “taking”
    • Line 5: “Turn,” “traffic”
    • Line 6: “remember,” “first”
    • Line 7: “Fierce”
    • Line 8: “Red,” “rope”
    • Line 9: “Fought”
    • Line 12: “walls,” “with”
    • Line 13: “Words,” “coloured,” “clean,” “squares”
    • Line 14: “wild,” “circles”
    • Line 15: “struggle”
    • Line 16: “Separate,” “We,” “want,” “we”
    • Line 17: “To,” “two,” “to”
    • Line 21: “stand”
    • Line 22: “straight,” “strong”
    • Line 26: “Tightening”
    • Line 27: “Trailing”

  • Enjambment

    

    

    

    

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    Where enjambment appears in the poem:

    • Lines 2-3: “white / Room”
    • Lines 3-4: “watching / The”
    • Lines 4-5: “taking / Turn”
    • Lines 6-7: “first / Fierce”
    • Lines 7-8: “tight / Red”
    • Lines 8-9: “both / Fought”
    • Lines 9-10: “square / Environmental”
    • Lines 10-11: “disinfected / Of”
    • Lines 11-12: “wrote / All”
    • Lines 12-13: “my / Words”
    • Lines 13-14: “squares / With”
    • Lines 14-15: “circles / Of”
    • Lines 15-16: “become / Separate”
    • Lines 18-19: “struggle / In”
    • Lines 19-20: “feelings / Which”
    • Lines 20-21: “fighting / You”
    • Lines 21-22: “there / With”
    • Lines 22-23: “long / Brown”
    • Lines 24-25: “up / From”
    • Lines 28-29: “skate / In”

• “Catrin” Vocabulary

  Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.

  • Confrontation
  • Red rope of love
  • Environmental blank
  • The glass tank
  • (Location in poem: Lines 6-7: “our first / Fierce confrontation”)

• Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Catrin”

  • Form

  • Meter

  • Rhyme Scheme

• “Catrin” Speaker

• “Catrin” Setting

• Literary and Historical Context of “Catrin”

• More “Catrin” Resources

  • External Resources

    • An Interview With Clarke — Listen to a 2018 interview with Clarke in which she discusses Welsh poetry and why it's important to introduce children to creativity early.  

    • Poems On Pregnancy, Birth, and Being a Mother — Browse the Poetry Foundation's collection on poems about motherhood.   

    • Hear the Poet Read "Catrin" Aloud — Listen to Gillian Clarke read and introduce her own poem. 

    • An Introduction to the Poet's Work — Read a biography of Gillian Clark from Poetry International.  

    • British Poet Friends and Collaborators — Read about Gillian Clarke's road trip with fellow contemporary British poets Carol Ann Duffy, Jackie Kay, and Imtiaz Dharker.  

  • LitCharts on Other Poems by Gillian Clarke

    • Lament

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