My Mother at Sixty Six

- Kamala Das
Learning Objectives
•To enhance the vocabulary
•To answer textual and inferential questions
•To identify and exemplify the poetic devices used.
VOCABULARY
1) doze: a short, light sleep
2) ashen: very pale, like ash.
3) corpse: a dead body.
4) sprinting: here, running
5) spilling: here, to move out in great numbers.
6) wan: unnaturally pale, as from physical or emotional distress.
7) ache: pain.
Summary
The poet was driving from her parent’s home to the Cochin airport last Friday morning. Her
mother was sitting beside her. She was sixty six years old. The old lady was dozing. Her mouth
remained open. Her face looked pale and faded. It was grey like ash. It looked lifeless like a
corpse (dead body).
The lifeless and faded face of her mother pained her heart. The old lady seemed to be lost in
her own thoughts. The poet turned away her attention from her mother and looked outside.
The world outside was full of life and activity. The young trees seemed running fast. The
children looked happy while moving out of their homes.
When they were at the airport, they had to undergo a security check. The poet was standing a
few yards away from her mother. She looked again at her old mother. She felt pained to look
at the colourless, lifeless and pale face of her mother. Her face looked faded like the late
winter’s moon which had lost its shine and strength. This aroused the old familiar ache in the
poet’s heart. Her childhood fear overpowered her again. However, she controlled herself. She
appeared to be normal. She scattered smiles on her face while saying goodbyegood bye to her
mother. She wished to see her old Amma again.

Short Answer questions

1. Why has the poet used the image of the merry children “spilling out of their homes”?
The poet saw the children rushing out of their homes. The children were young and full of life, a sad contrast to her aged mother. They
represented joyousness and vitality, a contrast to the ashen visage of the poet’s ageing mother.
2. Why has the mother been compared to the “late winter’s moon”?
The ashen and pale visage of her mother led the poet to compare her mother with that of a late winter’s moon. The winter moon that had lost
its luminosity and was waning is used as a simile to compare the mother’s old and pale countenance.
3. What do the parting words of the poet and her smile signify?
The parting words of the poet and her smile signify her pain and fear of losing her mother. She tried to put on a brave front
by hiding her fear behind a smile. She tried to hide her fear from her mother as she called out, “See you soon, Amma.” The
smile also might mean a forced optimism which allowed her to believe that her mother might yet live for a long time.
4. Explain the contrasting situations in the poem. Why does the poet do so?
The poem throws up various contrasts to drive home the idea and fear of the mother inching close to death. First, the
mother’s lifelessness in the car is contrasted with the activity outside—the trees running, the children spilling out and the
airport buzzing with activity. It contrasts with the sadness and pain in the car with the euphoric mood outside. The poet uses
the contrast to highlight the dissimilarity of both situations.
LONG ANSWER QUESTION
The poem deals with the subtleties of human relationships. Justify.
The poem, “My Mother at Sixtysix” revolves around the theme of advancing age and the consequent fear of loss and
separation. As the poet was on the way to the airport in Cochin, she was struck by the realization that her mother was old and
frail, and was overwhelmed by the fear of her parent’s
impending death. She observed her mother, in her twilight years, pale and waning like the winter moon.
Like any other child, she too remembered having harboured the insecurity of losing a parent that seemed to be presently
unfolding in her life. Beset with sorrow and insecurity, at the end of the poem, she bids goodbye to her aged mother at the
airport. The poet undergoes the universal emotions
of grief and fear of losing a parent to old age and death. Kamala Das’ eloquent and poignant verse brings out the motif of
transience and passing time.
Give examples from the poem for the following poetic devices.
Simile
“… face ashen like that of a corpse
…pale as a late winter’s moon”
Personification
“.. young trees sprinting”
Metaphor
“merry children spilling out”
Contrast
“The world replete with activity contrasted with the near lifeless mother”
Tautology
“I looked again at her, wan, pale”
Repetition
“smile and smile and smile…”

Extra questions

1. What do you think is the pain and the ache that the poet feels?
The poet was driving back from her parent’s home to Cochin, and she gazed at her mother, sleeping, beside her. The poet felt
agonized at the thought of her mother growing old. The realisation that her mother was inching towards death made the poet
sad as she was plagued by the thought of losing her.
2. Why are the young trees described as ‘sprinting’?
The poet, in order to distract her mind from the painful sight, looks out of the window. The tree outside her car window
rushed past her as she drove ahead. On looking out from a moving vehicle, stationary objects seem to be moving in the
opposite direction. Kamala Das compared the trees to young children, with boundless energy running past her window. She
uses the poetic device of personification to achieve this comparison.
3. Why has the poet used the image of the merry children “spilling out of their homes”?
The poet saw the children rushing out of their homes. The children were young and full of life, a sad contrast to her aged
mother. They represented joyousness and vitality, a contrast to the ashen visage of the poet’s ageing mother. The image of
the children lends a contrast to her mood.
4. Why has the mother been compared to the “late winter’s moon”?
The ashen and pale visage of her mother led the poet to compare her mother with that of a late winter’s moon. The winter
moon that had lost its luminosity and was waning is used as a simile to compare the mother’s old and pale countenance.
5. What are the words that convey the poet’s agony?
Looking at her mother, drained of colour, the poet realizes that her mother had grown old and weak and had come to the end
of her life. The words “familiar ache” universalizes the emotion. She talks of her mother’s frailty by comparing her to a
“corpse”. She desired to dispel the pain by looking out of the car window. In the end, she was unable to speak; she could
only smile.
6. The mood and setting in the poem complete a full cycle. Explain.
The poet begins with a concern and grief of the mother’s lifelessness in the car. The poet then describes the energy and
jubilation outside. Once again, the mood recoils into sadness and worry, at the end of the poem, when the poet talks of her
mother being pale like a late winter’s moon.

With the help of peer With the help of teacher and On my own
textbook
I can answer textual and inferential
questions.
I can identify the poetic devices
I can summarize the poem