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    My Mother at Sixty Six

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    chootuc435
    The poem "My mother at sixty-six" by Kamala Das is about the poet visiting her aging mother. As the poet sits beside her mother in the car on the way to the airport, she notices how frail and pale her mother looks, resembling a corpse. Seeing her mother in this state brings the poet pain, as she realizes her mother will not live much longer. To distract from this painful sight, the poet looks outside at young trees and children playing, representing life and energy. But when she glances at her mother again before leaving, her mother appears as weak as the late winter's moon, reminding the poet of her fear of permanently losing her mother. The poet puts on a smile and says she will

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    My Mother at Sixty Six

    Uploaded by

    chootuc435
    41 views4 pages
    The poem "My mother at sixty-six" by Kamala Das is about the poet visiting her aging mother. As the poet sits beside her mother in the car on the way to the airport, she notices how frail and pale her mother looks, resembling a corpse. Seeing her mother in this state brings the poet pain, as she realizes her mother will not live much longer. To distract from this painful sight, the poet looks outside at young trees and children playing, representing life and energy. But when she glances at her mother again before leaving, her mother appears as weak as the late winter's moon, reminding the poet of her fear of permanently losing her mother. The poet puts on a smile and says she will

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    The poem "My mother at sixty-six" by Kamala Das is about the poet visiting her aging mother. As the poet sits beside her mother in the car on the way to the airport, she notices how frail and pale her mother looks, resembling a corpse. Seeing her mother in this state brings the poet pain, as she realizes her mother will not live much longer. To distract from this painful sight, the poet looks outside at young trees and children playing, representing life and energy. But when she glances at her mother again before leaving, her mother appears as weak as the late winter's moon, reminding the poet of her fear of permanently losing her mother. The poet puts on a smile and says she will

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    41 views4 pages

    My Mother at Sixty Six

    Uploaded by

    chootuc435
    The poem "My mother at sixty-six" by Kamala Das is about the poet visiting her aging mother. As the poet sits beside her mother in the car on the way to the airport, she notices how frail and pale her mother looks, resembling a corpse. Seeing her mother in this state brings the poet pain, as she realizes her mother will not live much longer. To distract from this painful sight, the poet looks outside at young trees and children playing, representing life and energy. But when she glances at her mother again before leaving, her mother appears as weak as the late winter's moon, reminding the poet of her fear of permanently losing her mother. The poet puts on a smile and says she will

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    of 4

    Flamingo

    Poetry Section
    Poem: My mother at sixty-six

    Note: All the work must be done in English Notebook*.

    About the Poet​:

    The poet, ​Kamala Das also wrote by her pen-name of ‘Madhavikutty’. She was
    born in Kerala and is one of India’s first poets. Her subject – matter is basically
    related to her personality- beautiful, sensitive, bold and tormented. External
    factors do not reflect in her writings, her writings bring out her true inner feelings.
    Her favorite poem is ‘composition’.
    In the poem ‘My mother at sixty six’, she talks about her mother. This poem is
    based on mother-daughter relation and the poet shares her feelings for her
    mother.

    Theme:

    This poem revolves around the theme of advancing age and the fear of loss and
    separation. The poet looks at her old feeble mother and the finality of death
    looms large on her mind. Looking at her old mother, she is pained and worried as
    she realizes that the mother may not live long.

    Summary​:

    Once the poet went to visit her mother. She was on her way back to the airport to
    return to Cochin. She looked at her mother who was seated beside her in the car.
    Her mother had dozed off to sleep and her ageing face - was smoky in colour like
    ash. Her mouth was open and she resembled a dead body. The poet realized
    that her mother was old. She felt pain and sympathy for her. Her mother needed
    love, affection and care.

    In order to come out of the gloom, the poet shifted her glance and looked out of
    the car’s window. There she saw young trees pass by. Little children were

    1
    running out of their houses into the playgrounds. These things were contrary to
    the ageing face of her mother. They symbolised energy, life and happiness.

    As they reached the airport and the poet was about to leave for the aeroplane,
    she glanced at her mother one more time. Her mother appeared weak and pale
    just like the moon in the winter season which seems to have lost all its strength.
    The poet felt the pain and fear of losing her mother. She was reminded of her
    childhood when she used to fear losing her mother. As a child she could not bear
    to be separated from her mother even for a few moments. Now the loss would be
    permanent as her mother was about to die and she would lose her forever.

    The poet did not express her feelings. She smiled and said “see you soon,
    Amma” because she wanted that her mother should live and they could meet
    again.

    Word/Phrases & their Contextual Meanings:

    Beside: ​next to
    Corpse: ​a dead body, especially of a human being
    Spilling out of their homes: ​coming out of their homes
    Late winter's moon: ​relating to old age or death
    doze​: a short, light sleep
    ashen​: very pale, like ash.
    sprinting​: here, shooting out of the ground/running fast
    wan​: unnaturally pale, as from physical or emotional distress.

    POETIC DEVICES​:
    The poetic devices used are simile, repetition and personification:

    1. Simile​ — face ashen like a corpse, as a late winter’s moon.


    2. Personification​ — trees sprinting
    3. Repetition​ — smile and smile and smile

    2
    TEXTUAL QUESTIONS:
    Think it Out:

    1. What is the kind of pain and ache that the poet feels?
    Whenever the poet looks at the colourless and pale face of her mother, her
    old familiar pain surfaces realising that her mother was ageing and would
    die soon.

    2. Why are the young trees described as 'sprinting'?


    The poet, in order to distract her mind from the painful sight, looks out of
    the window. The young trees have been personified. When looked at from
    the poet’s moving car, they seem to be running past. The poet found it to
    be strikingly opposite to her mother who looked as still as a dead body.

    3. Why has the poet brought in the image of the merry children ‘spilling
    out of their homes’?
    The poet draws a comparison between what is travelling with her and what
    she can see outside. It’s a comparison between life and death. Her mother
    is sleeping, with mouth open, like a dead body, while outside she can see
    children who are full of life, energy and enthusiasm.

    4. Why has the mother been compared to the ‘late winter’s moon’?
    Just as the late winter’s moon is dull and lacks luster, so is her mother at
    the end stage of her life. Also, as the late winter moon gets overshadowed
    by the fog and mist in the sky similarly her mother can get overshadowed
    by death at any time. Both of them are nearing an end- one of season and
    the other of life.

    5. What do the parting words of the poet and her smile signify?
    The parting words of the poet show her positive attitude.
    She smiles to conceal her fear and pain of separation from her mother and
    assures herself and her mother that they would meet again. She is being
    very brave which is indicated by the use of repetition in the poem:
    “smile and smile and smile......”

    3
    DO-IT-YOURSELF EXERCISES
    Reference-to-context:

    Read the extracts given and answer the questions that follow:

    1. Driving from...realized with pain...


    ● Where was the poet? Where was she going?
    ● What colour, according to the poet, describes the colour of a corpse?
    ● Name the poetic device: "​her face ashen like that of a corpse".
    ● Seeing her mother beside her, brought home to the poet a painful
    ______________.

    2. ...that she thought away...out their homes,...


    ● What thoughts did she put away?
    ● How did she try to overcome his pain?
    ● What did she see outside?
    ● What is the poetic device used: "​trees sprinting"?

    3. ...I looked again at her wan, pale as a…smile and smile and smile.
    ● What does the poet compare her mother's pale face to? Mention the poetic
    device.
    ● What is meant by "​familiar ache"?
    ● What were her parting words to her mother?
    ● Why did she smile?
    ● What is the fear of the poet?

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