Catrin (poem)
"Catrin" is a famous poem written by Welsh poet Gillian Clarke about her daughter, Catrin, growing up, and "the tight red rope of love", the strong bond between them that can never be broken.
Poem
I can remember you, child,
As I stood in a hot, white
Room at the window watching
The people and cars taking
Turn at the traffic lights.
I can remember you, our first
Fierce confrontation, the tight
Red rope of love which we both
Fought over. 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. We want, we shouted,
To be two, to be ourselves.
Neither won nor lost the struggle
In the glass tank clouded with feelings
Which changed us both. Still I am fighting
You off, as you stand there
With your straight, strong, long
Brown hair and your rosy,
Defiant glare, bringing up
From the heart's pool that old rope,
Tightening about my life,
Trailing love and conflict,
As you ask may you skate
In the dark, for one more hour.
It was written about an argument between them both while Catrin was young, as she wanted to skate outside in the dark and Gillian Clarke said no to her. This reminded Clarke of how she will have to let her go someday, as the dark symbolises independence upon herself.
"The tight red rope of love" also represents the umbilical cord as she gives birth to this child. She goes on "Which we both fought over." By this she is referring to the actual process of having a baby and how they struggle to remove the child from Clarke and the emotions she is feeling at the time. It says how Catrin was a beautiful person. It also describes how hard it is being a mother and the change that happens when a child grows up.
This poem is included in the GCSE AQA Anthology.
External links
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