Throughout this poem, Clarke uses many techniques, primarily the extended metaphor to strikingly depict the pain but also affection felt in the inevitable separation between a mother and daughter.
The effective use of the free verse and enjambment by Clarke solely portrays this on-going separation between a mother and daughter, therefore fully lending itself to the first person narrative showing the naturalistic nature of the mother’s perspective. The use of the daughters name “Catrin” in the title additionally heightens the notion of separation as itself is used to portray specific uniqueness of the child when brought into the world. However the fact that the name is not mentioned again throughout the poem depicts a more universal feel to the poem-therefore presenting Clarke potentially emphasising the universal pain felt between a mother and a daughter; both physically and mentally. Clarke’s exploration of separation is permeated throughout Catrin, the visual break being expressed through the structural break between the two stanzas, where Clarke effectively depicts the sharp split in the bond between the …show more content…
‘Struggle’ is perhaps the most effective as it potently empahsises the sheer pain and the battle the mother had to endure to separate from her daughter along with “Separate.” where the clever use of punctuation by Clarke not only visually ‘separates’ the word from the sentence but also fully injects the recurring theme in this