MY MOTHER AT SIXTY SIX
_Kamala Das
1. Mortal Malaise
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Old mother's dozing off
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Looks like ashen faced and a corpse
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Wane and pale like late winter moon
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Sign of an imminent death
2. Poet's mixed feelings
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Couldn’t prepared for the loss
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Revives the childhood fear
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Wants to keep the heavy thought away
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Just smiles on and on
3. Poem a Monologue
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Poet thinks to herself
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Continuity of thought
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A single line with a few commas and dots
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Abrupt ending shows can't soothe her Bervnmt No rhyme, rhythm and meter
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Unevenly broken into short and lengthy sentences
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A free verse
4. A Suffering of
separation
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A subtle human relationship bond
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Inevitable death prerogative always accepted but heavy heartedly
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Humans never embrace death Magna
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Humans feel Defls , Decpt, debilitated to the all
devouring death
5. Figures of speech.
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Simile-Her face ashen like that of a corpse
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Simile Wan, pale as a late winter’s moon
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Metp,
Prsnf,
imagery - Trees Sprnt
Metaphor, imagery -Spilling children
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Repetition- All I did was smile and smile and smile……
Abbreviations word
Sprnt sprinting
Prsnf personification
Metp metaphor
Defls defenceless
Decpt decapitated
Bervnmt bereavement
Magna magnanimously
Summarizing
Kamal Das touches the subtle complexities of human bondage, which
is never accepted to be stripped off at any movement in life. Here the
daughter-mother thick bond of love and imminent separation is depicted with
language brevity. Kamala doesn’t seem ready to accept the reality of human life
i.e. death. It revives her childhood fear of losing her mother. She sees out to
change the mood by looking at sprinting trees and spilling children but again
it comes back at airport where she feels completely powerless, decapitated and
prepares herself for the imminent loss. She just smiles out in optimism.
Main points
- Poetess travelling to Cochin airport with her mother in a car.
- Looks at the wan, pale face of her dozing mother.
- Old fear of loosing her mother returns.
- Sprinting trees and merry children provide the contrast and relief.
- After the security check the old familiar ache returns.
- Tries to hide her emotions by smiling.
- Bids good bye to her mother with a hope to see her again.
- The poet is driving from her parents home to Cochin by car, her mother by her side—sleeping –open mouthed very pale, colorless and frail-like a dead body indicating that her end was near.
9. The poet looks at her and feels intense pain and agony to realize that soon death will cast her mother from her.
10. Tries to divert her mind, looks outside at the young trees and happy children bursting out of their homes in a playful mood (a contrasting image)
11. After the security check at the airport looked again at her mother’s face—pale and cold.
12. “Familiar ache-My childhood fear” –the poet has always had a very intimate and close relationship with her mother and she has always felt the fear of being separated from her mother hence it is familiar.
13. The poet reassures her mother that they will meet again.
Cochin last Friday morning,
I saw my mother, beside me,
doze, open mouthed, her face ashen like that
of a corpse and realised with pain
that she was as old as she looked but soon
put that thought away, and looked out at Young
Trees sprinting, the merry children spilling
out of their homes,
a. Name the poem and the poet.
Answer:
The poem is ‘My Mother at Sixty-six’ and the poet is ‘Kamala Das’.
b. Where was the poet going to and with whom?
Answer:
The poet was going from her parent’s home to the Cochin airport. She was accompanied by her mother who was sixty-six years old.
c. What did the daughter notice inside the car?
Answer:
She noticed her mother looking pale and dull, and as lifeless as a dead body. She was dozing and her mouth was open.
d. In what state is the mother now?
Answer:
She is dozing open mouthed and with a pale face.
2. but after the airport’s
security check, standing a few yards
away, I looked again at her, wan, pale
as a late winter’s moon and felt that old
familiar ache, my childhood’s fear,
but all I said was see you soon, Amma,
all I did was smile and smile and smile
a. Why does the poet ‘look at her again’?
Answer:
The poet looks at her mother for the last time before boarding the flight. She reassures herself about the well-being of her mother. She wished her mother goodbye in order to comfort her and leave on an optimistic note.
b. Does the poet share her thoughts with her mother?
Answer:
No, the poet does not share her fears and agony with her mother, but only bids her a cheerful farewell.
c. Why did the poet not share her thoughts with her mother?
Answer:
The poet did not share her thoughts with her aged mother because it would have unnecessarily disturbed her frail old mother. Moreover, her thoughts were caused by her fear of the unknown.
d. Give one reason for the poet’s ‘smile’.
Answer:
She wanted to assure her mother that they would meet again.
3. … she
looked but soon
put that thought away, and
looked out at young
Trees sprinting, the merry children spilling
out of their homes,…
a. What did the poet realise? How did she feel?
Answer:
The poet was on her way to the airport when she realised that her mother was nearing her old age, and this feeling was hard for her to accept.
b. What did she do then?
Answer:
She tried to divert her thoughts by looking out of the car window.
c. What did she notice in the world outside?
Answer:
She noticed that some joyous children were playing outside which gave her some respite , from the thoughts of her ageing mother. The children represented youth, energy and life.
d. Which poetic device is used in the 2nd last line?
Answer:
Personification
4. … but soon
put that thought away, and
looked out at young
trees sprinting, the merry children spilling
out of their homes,…
a. Which thought did the poet put away?
Answer:
The poet put the thought of looking at her ageing mother away.
b. What do the ‘sprinting trees’ signify?
Answer:
It is our common experience, whenever we travel by a fast-running vehicle, the standing objects appear to be running back fast. These sprinting trees in the poem signify how the young age of the poet’s mother passed so fast.
c. What are ‘the merry children spilling out of their homes’ symbolic of?
Answer:
The poet’s mother who is sitting beside her is dozing. Her ‘ashen’ face looks lifeless and pale like a corpse. On the other hand, children are gay and happy. They are moving out of their homes in large numbers. There is an image of happiness and spontaneous overflow of life.
d. Why are trees ‘young’ here?
Answer:
The poet establishes the contrast with the ageing mother inside the car and the sprinting trees are potrayed as young.
5. Driving from my parent’s
home to Cochin last Friday
morning, I saw my mother, beside me,
doze, open mouthed, her face ashen like that
of a corpse and realised with pain
that she was as old as she looked…
a. Where was the poet driving to?
Answer:
The poet was driving to the Cochin airport.
b. Why was her mother’s face looking like that of a corpse?
Answer:
The-mother’s face was pale, lifeless and wan looking like that of a corpse because she had grown old.
c. What did the poet notice about her mother?
Answer:
When the poet looked at her mother, her mouth was open, her pale face was looking like a corpse. She realised that her mother had grown old.
d. What pain did the poet experience?
Answer:
She felt it painful to witness her ageing mother.
6. I saw my mother,
beside me,
doze, open mouthed, her face
ashen like that
of a corpse and realised with
pain
a. Who does ‘I’ refer to ?
Answer:
‘I’ refers to the poet, Kamala Das.
b. What did ‘I’ realise with pain?
Answer:
The poet realised with pain that her mother was nearing old age.
c. Why was the realisation painful?
Answer:
Her mother’s approaching death was a hard fact for her to accept. The thoughts of separation from her mother made her feel sad.
d. Identify and name the figure of speech used in these lines.
Answer:
Simile: ashen like that of a corpse
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