POETRY | Catrin

Question 1

Context

Answer 1

• Awarded Queen’s Gold for poetry and Wilfred Owen Award.
• Third person to hold the post of National Welsh Poet.
• Worked for BBC in London post-university.
• Mother of three children, focusing on motherhood.
• Writes about nature and natural imagery.
• Poem written to address the question of why a baby becomes a teenager.

Question 2

Language

Answer 2

• Clarke juxtaposes the daughter’s dependency on the speaker as a baby with her desire for independence as a teenager.
• The daughter’s struggle to separate is portrayed through collective pronouns like “our” and “we.”
• The second stanza uses separated pronouns, contrasting the seminal passage.
• Pronouns are separated through enjambment, with those referring to the speaker on a separate line.

Question 3

Language

Answer 3

• Uses simple language to balance complexity of human relationships.
• Highlights simple and intense feelings of motherhood.
• Focuses on emotion, making theme universally relevant.

Question 4

Structure

Answer 4

• Structured into two stanzas: past tense and present tense.
• Past stanza focuses on Catrin’s difficult birth.
• Present stanza focuses on the conflict between mother and daughter.
• Bipartite stanza separation emphasizes time passed between Catrin’s birth and present day.
• Highlights increasing separation between speaker and Catrin as daughter becomes teenager and seeks independence.

Question 5

Form

Answer 5

• Written in free verse, not following a set form.
• Comprises two stanzas of irregular length, rhyme scheme, and rhythm.
• Possible reflection of Clarke’s relationship with daughter and the unknown nature of motherhood.