MY MOTHER AT SIXTY SIX

- Kamala Das

1. Read the following extract and answer the following questions

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?
The above lines are taken from the poem My Mother at Sixty Six written by Kamala Das. In this
line she puts the thought of losing her mother to death , aside.
b. What do the sprinting trees signify?
The sprinting trees signify youth, energy, vitality and joy. This is in direct contrast with the
poet’s mother.
c. What are ‘the merry children spilling out of their homes’ symbolic of?
The merry children coming out of their homes are symbolic of the energy of the young in
contrast to the old age of the poet’s mother.
d. Where is the poet going?
The poet is going to the airport to take a flight to Cochin.

2. What is the kind of pain and ache that the poet feels?
The poet’s mother’s face looked pale like a corpse. It was a painful sight because it reminded
the poet of her childhood fear of separation from her mother. She fears losing her mother to
death. It also hides her guilt of not being able to spend more time with her mother.

3. Why are ‘the young trees sprinting’? Why has the poet brought in the image of ‘the merry
children spilling out of their homes’?
The poet has used these phrases as they signify youth, vitality, energy and joy. The merry
children denote life and childhood. Both these images are in direct contrast to the sight of her
dozing mother who is aging, lacks energy and looks like a corpse.
 4. Why has the mother been compared to the ‘late winter’s moon’?
Winter is the symbol of decay and death. A late winter’s moon looks pale, dull, lustreless,
lacking the strength to shine. The poet’s mother has aged and lacks energy and enthusiasm
with an ashen face, which makes her look like a pale winter’s moon.

5. What do the parting words of the poet and her smile signify?
The parting words of the poet, ‘See you soon Amma’, signify her optimism and the hope of
seeing her mother again. She smiles again again as she needs lot of effort to fight back her fear.
Her smile also helps her to fight back her guilt that she is not able to stay back with her mother to
take care of her. Thus her smile masks both her fear and guilt.

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