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  • MY MOTHER AT SIXTY SIX Notes

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    1) The poem "My Mother at Sixty-Six" by Kamala Das describes her mother as pale and frail like a corpse while they sit in a car on the way to the airport. 2) To divert her thoughts from her mother's declining health, the poet looks outside and sees young, sprinting trees and merry children spilling from their homes, contrasting with her mother. 3) At the airport, the poet puts on a brave face by repeating "smile" to her mother, hiding her fear and pain of impending loss behind her parting words "see you soon."

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    1) The poem "My Mother at Sixty-Six" by Kamala Das describes her mother as pale and frail like a corpse while they sit in a car on the way to the airport. 2) To divert her thoughts from her mother's declining health, the poet looks outside and sees young, sprinting trees and merry children spilling from their homes, contrasting with her mother. 3) At the airport, the poet puts on a brave face by repeating "smile" to her mother, hiding her fear and pain of impending loss behind her parting words "see you soon."

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    119 views3 pages

    MY MOTHER AT SIXTY SIX Notes

    Uploaded by

    Sarthak Verma
    1) The poem "My Mother at Sixty-Six" by Kamala Das describes her mother as pale and frail like a corpse while they sit in a car on the way to the airport. 2) To divert her thoughts from her mother's declining health, the poet looks outside and sees young, sprinting trees and merry children spilling from their homes, contrasting with her mother. 3) At the airport, the poet puts on a brave face by repeating "smile" to her mother, hiding her fear and pain of impending loss behind her parting words "see you soon."

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
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    of 3

    MY MOTHER AT SIXTY SIX

    BY: KAMALA DAS

    Literary devices used in the poem:

    1. Simile: her face ashen like that of a corpse


    (Meaning: the mother appears as pale as a dead body)

    Wan, pale as a late winter’s moon


    (Meaning: the mother looks dull and dim just like the moon in
    late winter)
    2. Personification: trees sprinting

    (Meaning: trees are personified and given human quality)

    3. Metaphor: merry children running out of their homes


    (Meaning: children are energetic and full of life and are rushing
    out of their homes)
    4. repetition: smile and smile and smile
    (Meaning: to emphasize and highlight)
    5. images: trees sprinting and merry children spilling
    (Meaning: vivid description suggesting various images)

    6. symbol: late winter’s moon


    (Meaning: winter symbolizes death, decay and degeneration)

    Important words:
    Doze : sleep lightly for short time

    Ashen : very pale; without colour because of illness or fear

    Corpse : dead body

    Sprinting : running very fast

    Spilling : rushing out, coming out quickly

    Wan : colourless

    Ache : a continuous feeling of pain


    Theme of the poem:

    My mother at sixty six is based on the theme of advancing age (of natural process of ageing) and fear of
    loss and separation associated with it. The poet, Kamala Das must be feeling guilty of not being able to
    stay with her mother in her old age.

    Central idea of the poem:

    Relationship between people becomes stronger at every aspect of life and they can’t bear separation
    due to aging. In this poem, the poet relates a personal experience. She brings out a common paradox of
    human relationships and portrays a sensational separation of a mother and a daughter.

    Natural process of ageing and elderly parents’ expectation:

    Elderly parents want companionship, caring and love. They are old and thus, not able to
    move around as much as they used to. They are lonely and want their children to spend a
    little time with them. A kind word and some moments of our time will give them happiness
    and make them feel loved and cherished. If ignored and spurned, they feel gloomy and
    abandoned. We must remember that we all have to grow old and a day will come when we
    too will want some attention and company.

    Important question-answers:

    Q1. What kind of contrast can you find in the poem My mother at sixty six?

    Ans. For the poet, it becomes unbearable to look at her mother’s miserable state of existence

    and therefore, she looks outside the car window to divert her thoughts. She sees the young

    trees sprinting and happy children are coming out of their homes. She has created a paradox

    here to bring out a contrast between the lifeless, still form of her mother and the freshness and

    vitality of the trees and the children.

    Q2. What is the kind of pain and ache that the poet feels?

    Ans. The emotional pain and ache that the poet feels is due to the realization that her mother has gone
    old and has become frail and pale like a corpse. The ache also refers to the old familiar ache of the
    childhood that revisits the poet due to the mother’s old age and her approaching death. It can also be
    because of poet’s continuous sad feeling that she is not being able to take a good care of her old and
    ailing mother.

    Q3. Why are the young trees described as sprinting?


    Ans. The poet and her mother are sitting in the car which is moving very fast towards the Cochin airport.
    In order to divert her mind from the painful realization of the impending loss of her mother, the poet
    looks out of the window. When she looks outside, the young trees seem to be walking past them. With
    the speed of the car they seem to be running fast or sprinting. The poet presents a contrast between her
    ‘dozing old mother ‘and the ‘sprinting young tress’.

    Q4. Why has the poet brought in image of the merry children ‘spilling out of their homes’?

    Ans. The poet has brought in the image of the merry children ‘spilling out of their homes’ because this
    image helps to bring out the contrast between childhood and old age. While childhood is a period of
    carefree merrymaking, old age is the period of sadness, decay and death. Both the images are useful for
    the understanding of the process of ageing and death.

    Q5. Why has the mother been compared to the ‘late winter’s moon’?

    Ans. The poet’s mother has been compared to the ‘late winter’s moon’ because winter, like old age is
    the last phase of human life just as winter is the last month of the year. And in old age a man grows pale
    like death just as the moon in the late winter looks pale white.

    Q6. What do the parting words of the poet and her smile signify?

    Ans. The parting words of the poetess and her smile signify her pain and fear of losing her mother. She
    tries to put on a brave front by hiding this fear behind a smile. And her parting words ‘see you soon,
    Amma ‘ are spoken to give hope to her mother.

    Practice questions

    Q1. In the last line of the poem ‘My mother at sixty six’ why does the poet use
    the word ‘smile’ repeatedly?

    Q2. Having looked at her mother, why does Kamala Das look at the young
    children?
    Q3. Why does Kamala Das compare her mother to a ‘late winter’s moon’?

    Q4. How does Kamala Das try to put away the thoughts of her ageing mother?

    Q5. What were the poet’s feelings at the airport? How did she hide them?

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