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MY MOTHER AT SIXTY-SIX

FLAMINGO
5 CHAPTER-1
THE LAST LESSON-

ALPHONSE DAUDET
5
 DR.KRITIKA SABHARWAL

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INTRODUCTION

ABOUT THE POET

EXPLANATION

SUMMARY

MESSAGE

POETIC DEVICES
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
POEM-My mother at Sixty-six:

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 realized 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, 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......
Once the poet went to
visit her mother. She
was on her way back to
the the airport to return
to Cochin. She looked
at her mother who was
seated beside her in the
car.
This is a touching poem
written by Indian poet
Kamala Das who wrote
under the pen name of
‘Madhavikutty’. In this
poem, she describes her
feeling of love and
attachment towards her
ageing mother.
Once the poet went to
visit her mother. She
was on her way back
to the 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
running out of their
houses into the
playgrounds. These
things were contrary to
the ageing face of her
mother. They symbolized
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.
NEW / DIFFICULT WoRDS

1) doze: a short, light sleep

2) ashen: very pale, like ash.

3) corpse: a dead body.

4) sprinting: here, shooting out of the ground.

5) spilling: here, to move out in great numbers.

6) wan: unnaturally pale, as from physical or emotional distress.

7) ache: pain.
Explanation
Firstly, when the poet is on
her way to the cochin
airport with her old mother
sitting beside her, she looks
at her closely and presents
before us her image.
She compares her with a corpse.

(simile is a figure of speech to show

comparison between her mother’s face
and a corpse.) As she looks at her
mother’s pale and pallid face, she is
struck with the horror and pain of
losing her.
The mother with the dozing face
and open mouth is compared to a
corpse.

Here, the poet shows the typical

love and affection which is present
in a mother-daughter relation.
The poet is pained and shifts her
attention outside the car in order to
drive out the negative feelings.

She changes her sad mood The

scene outside the window is of
growing life and energy.

The rapidly sprinting trees alongside

the merrily playing children
symbolize life, youth and vitality.
The poet here is reminded of
her own childhood when her
mother had been young
whereas now she is encircled
with the fear of losing her
and that has made her
insecure.
She is at the airport to take a flight. It
indicates departure and separation
which creates melancholy.

As she bids goodbye to her mother,

the image of the old, wan, worn out
mother in the twilight of years strikes
her again.
Here again a simile is used to
compare her mother with a
late winter’s moon whose light
is obstacle by fog and mist

As she looks old now, her

personality is affected by it.
The poet is feeling the pain of separation, leaving
her mother and going.

Also, her childhood fear of losing her mother which

she feels that earlier was temporary but now, could
be forever as she could die of old age, is haunting
her.

She is so pained that it is natural for her to cry but

keeping a brave front she hides her tears and
smiles.
She bids farewell to her mother and keeping
her hope of seeing her again alive, says “see
you soon, Amma”.

She hides her sorrow as she does not want

to create a painful environment for her
mother and conveys her that as she is
enjoying her life similarly her mother
should also be happy and enjoy her life.
The poem revolves around the theme
of advancing age and the fear that
adheres to its loss and separation.

It is a sentimental account of the

mother’s approaching end through
the eyes of the daughter.
The seemingly short poem touches upon
the theme of the filial bond between the
mother and daughter smeared in the
backdrop of nostalgia and fear.

Nostalgia of the past (the time spent with

the mother) and fear of the future
without her.
It is a short poem, without a full stop,
the poem is like a long sentence, over
flowing thought process.

The poet uses the device of

comparison and contrast, simile and
repetition.
MESSAGE
Message Ageing is a natural process and it wil
affect each one of us. The complexity of life is
that children are perturbed by the condition
of their parents and wish to be with them.

However, they have to leave their parents

behind and move on with their commitments
The question arises how to strike a balance
between looking after the ageing parents and
attending to our duties and responsibilities.
LITERARY DEVICES
Driving from my parent’s home
To cochin last friday morning,
I saw my mother beside me.

The poetess explains that once when she visited

her parent’s house in Cochin. It was a Friday
when she was driving back to the airport, her
mother was sitting beside her at the back of the
car. The poet looked at her mother.
Literary Devices:

Assonance: Here we see the use

of vowel sound that is ‘o’.(To
Cochin last Friday morning)
doze, open mouthed, her face ashen
like that of a corpse and realised with pain

She saw that her mother was sleeping and

her mouth was open. She further explains
that the colour of her mother’s face was like
that of ash. (This means that there was
some smoky appearance on her face). She
looked like a dead body.
Literary Devices:
FACE ASHEN LIKE A CORPSE ,
AS A LATE WINTER’S MOON.

Her face ashen like that of a corpse ;poet sees

mother dozing off with her mouth open like a
corpse-it seems to have lost all vitality – the grey
colour os ash is usually associated with dead
body – triggers pain of losing her mother who is
close to death
Literary Devices:
FACE ASHEN LIKE A CORPSE ,
AS A LATE WINTER’S MOON.

Wan, pale as a late winter moon; reinforces the

idea that the mother’s face was pale and lifeless
like that of the fading winter moon . Winter is a
symbolic of the last cycle of the season – hence
waning moon .Mother’s frail health misted by
age is indicative od imminent death.
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,

The poetess realized that her mother had

grown old. She felt pain for her. But soon
she tried to get rid of this sad thought by
diverting her thoughts towards the trees
outside.
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,

The young trees although stationary seemed to be

running very fast as though they were sprinting.
She also saw children running out of their houses,
into the playground. All these things were full of
life and energy, contrary to her mother who sat
next to her.
Literary Devices:

imagery: when the poet say trees sprinting, merry

children spilling out of their homes

Youthful and exuberant

Spring of life- contrast to the morbid atmosphere inside

the car

The old mother weak, frail , inactive

Personification

Young trees sprinting

Movement of the trees rushing past

signify youth ,life or passage of time.
but after the airport’s
security check, standing a few yards away,
I looked again at her, wan, pale

The poet continues that when she reached the

airport, she finished with the security check
and stood a few yards away from her mother.
She noticed her mother’s ageing face which
looked so dull, weak and 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......

The poet compares her mother to a late winter’s

moon as the moon in winters is not shiny and
even her mother’s face had also lost her youth
and shine. As her mother was getting older and
weak. The poet feels the fear of separation just as
she used to feel during her childhood.
As a child, she could not bear the pain
of separating from her mother. But now
as her mother has grown old and is
about to die, the poet feels that may be
this is the last time that she is seeing
her mother. She tries to hide her fear.
She then says that she would soon see
her mother again. She says so because
she doesn’t want to lose her mother.
Literary Devices:

Repetition: use of ‘smile’

Rhyme scheme - The poem does not follow any rhyme

or rhythm. It has been written in free verse.

Simile: Mother’s face is compared to the late winter’s

moon - both are dull and lifeless.

use of ‘as’ (as a late winter’s moon).

Q/A
QUESTION ANSWER (TEXTUAL)
EXTRACT BASED
QUESTIoNS
Read the extract given below and answer
the questions that follow: (Delhi)
…….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 …
1.What was the childhood fear that now
troubled the poet?
2.What do the poet’s parting words
suggest?
3.Why did the poet smile and smile?
Answer:
1. The childhood fear of death
and decay now troubled the
poet. She is concerned about
her mother’s frail health and old
age.
2. The poet’s parting words reveal
her fear. Though she hopes she will
see her mother soon but she is
anxious about her mother’s
deteriorating health and falls short
of words to convey her true
feelings.
3. The poet smiled and smiled in an
effort to reassure herself that she
will meet her mother soon. Her
words and smiles are a deliberate
attempt to hide her real fears and
feelings from her mother.
Read the extract given below and answer
the questions that follows: (Delhi 2011)
…but soon
put that thought away and
looked out at young
trees sprinting, the merry children spilling
out of their homes, …

1.Which thought did the poet put away?

2.What do the ‘sprinting trees’ signify?
3.What are ‘the merry children spilling out of
their homes’, symbolic of?
1. The poet put away the
painful thought of her
mother’s ageing and
declining health and the
possibility of losing her
mother.
2. The trees appear to be
racing past as their car
moves towards the airport.
The old, inactive mother is
contrasted with the energetic
and active trees.
3. The ‘merry children spilling
out of their homes’ are symbolic
of happiness, energy and
playfulness. They are in stark
contrast to the old, dozing
mother. The sad thoughts of the
poet are also contrasted with
the merry children.
Read the extract given below and
answer the questions that follows:
(Comptt. All India 2011)
…..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 …
1.What was the childhood fear
that now troubled the poet?
2.What do the poet’s parting
words suggest?
3.Why did the poet smile and
smile?
1. The childhood fear of
death and decay now
troubled the poet. She is
concerned about her
mother’s frail health and old
age.
2. The poet’s parting words
reveal her fear. Though she
hopes she will see her mother
soon but she is anxious about
her mother’s deteriorating
health and falls short of words
to convey her true feelings.
.
3. The poet smiled and smiled in
an effort to reassure herself that
she will meet her mother soon.
Her words and smiles are a
deliberate attempt to hide her
real fears and feelings from her
mother.
Read the extract given below and
answer the questions that follows: (All
India 2013)
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….
1.What was the poet driving
to?
2.Why was her mother’s face
looking like that of a corpse?
3.What did the poet notice
about her mother?
Answer:
1. The poet was driving to the
airport from where she would
head to her house in Cochin.
2. Her mother’s face was
looking like that of a corpse
because it was pale, lifeless and
colourless.
3. The poet noticed that her
mother was really old and
this made her reflect
painfully on the latter’s
imminent death.
Read the extract given below
and answer the questions that
follows: (Comptt. Delhi 2013)
…..my childhood’s fear
but all I said was, see you soon,
Amma,
all I did was smile and smile and
smile ……..
1.Who is ‘I’?
2.What was ‘my childhood’s
fear’?
3.Why did the narrator smile
repeatedly
Answer:
1. I refers to the poet, Kamala
Das.
2. The poet’s childhood fear is
that of death and decay. She is
concerned about her mother’s
frail health and old age.
3. The poet smiled repeatedly
to reassure herself that she will
meet her mother soon. Her
words and smiles are a
deliberate attempt to hide her
real fears and feelings.
Read the extract given below and
answer the questions that follows: (All
India 2014)
… but soon
put that thought away, and
looked out at young
trees sprinting, the merry children
spilling
out of their homes, …
1.What thought did the poet drive
away from her mind?
2.What did she see when she
looked out of the car?
3.How do you know that the joyful
scene didn’t help her drive away
the painful thought from her mind?
Answer:
1. This could probably be their last
meeting.
2. When she looked out of the car
she saw young trees sprinting past
her car and young children spilling
out of their homes to play. She
looked outside at the world which
was full of life and activity.
3. The joyful scene didn’t help
to drive away her painful
thought because when she
looked at her mother’s pale and
withered face, the fear of
separation rose in her again.