MY MOTHER AT SIXTY SIX- BY KAMALA DAS

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

The poetess is deeply attached to her mother who is now pretty aged, weak and pale. She is
troubled to think of the inevitable – the loss of her mother in the future.

2. Why are the young trees described as ‘sprinting’?

The young tress ‘sprinting’ stand in sharp contrast to the aged and pale looking mother. The trees
symbolise youth and life, while the mother is inching towards the inevitable.

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

The little children are full of life, hope and cheerfulness. They have just begun the journey and over
enthusiastic. The old and weak mother is fast losing hold and could breathe her last any day in the
near future. The image of cheerful children makes the sight of an aging mother all the more painful.

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

The simile used here is very appropriate as the mother has signs of physical degeneration- an
inevitable part of the growth process. Her ‘ashen’ face resembles that of a corpse. Like a late
winter’s moon that is dull, hazy and lacking in brightness, the poetess’ mother is weak, pale and
colourless at her present age.

5. What do the parting words of the poetess and her smile signify?

She puts up a brave front and tries to transmit a hope, a ray of cheer to the mother. Words fail her
as all she can say is ‘See you soon Amma’ and a smile behind which she hides her pain.

FIGURES OF SPEECH:

SIMILE:

- Her face ashen like that of a corpse

- She was as old as she looked
- As a late winter’s moon

PERSONIFICATION

- Young trees sprinting

TAUTOLOGY

- Wan, pale

METAPHOR

- Merry children

REPETITION
 - Smile and smile and smile …….

QUESTIONS FOR PRACTICE: (2 markers)

1. How does Kamala Das try to put away the thoughts of her aging mother? (Delhi 2014)
2. What was the poet’s childhood fear? (AI 2014)
3. What were the poet’s feelings at the airport? How did she hide them?

RTC

I saw my mother

Beside me,

Doze, open mouthed, her face

Ashen like that

Of a corpse and realised with

Pain…

(a) Who is ‘I’?

(b) What did ‘I’ realise with pain?
(c) Why was the realisation painful?
(d) Identify and name the figure of speech used in these lines. (AI 2016)

I looked again at her, wan, pale

As a late winter’s moon and felt that

Old

Familiar ache, my childhood’s fear’

…..

(a) Who is ‘her’?

(b) Why did the poet look at ‘her’ again?
(c) What was the poet’s childhood fear?
(d) Identify the figure of speech used in these lines? (Foreign 2015)