INDIAN LANGUAGE

SCHOOL
GRADE XII
SUBJECT: ENGLISH CORE (301)
POEM 1 (FLAMINGO)
 LEARNING
OBJECTIVE
TO ENABLE LEARNERS TO –
• appreciate poetry and read aloud with
proper intonation
• prepare poetic forms and adept them with
the figures of speech, rhyme and rhythm
• read and recognize the purpose of economy
of words and the hidden pathos and
nuances of the lines, correlating them with
author’s background and personal
experiences- to build up didactics, empathy
and sympathy with the loss of the speaker
LEARNING
OUTCOME
THE LEARNERS WILL BE ABLE TO –
• grasp the theme and meaning of the poem.
• read the poem with proper tone and rhyme
and develop an interest in poetry.
• vocabulary would be strengthened.
• analysing skills would be enhanced.
• identify the poetic devices used in the poem
ABOUT THE POET
Kamala Das (1934-2009) was born in Malabar, Kerala. She is
recognised as one of India’s foremost poets. Her works are known
for their originality, versatility and the indigenous flavour of the
soil. She has published many novels and short stories. She wrote
under the pen name “Madhavi Kutty”. She has a long list of
awards to her credit. She was fearless and did not hesitate to
write about topics which were normally considered a taboo in the
society.

•A perfect orator known to speak her mind – the following video

will give you a glimpse of her presence of mind and a mastery of
using wit in her narration.

•https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NS6jNUvkVyw
INTRODUCTION
TO THE POEM
• My mother at sixty-six is written by Kamala Das who
is famous for capturing complexities of human
relationships. The poem my mother at sixty-six is one
of the finest examples of the human bonding,
especially that of a mother and daughter. It describes
the pain and fear of the poet - of losing her mother due
to harsh reality of life which is death.
ICE BREAKER: DISCUSS HOW SEPARATION
FROM PARENTS IMPACTS YOUR LIFE.(E.g.:
Leaving your house and going abroad for education)
SUMMARY
The poet, in this poem describes her mother. She says that she is sixty six years old and looks very
weak and old. When the poet was returning from her parent’s home and was on the way to the airport,
her mother was accompanying her. She noticed her mother who was sitting with her at the back seat
of the car. She was sleeping with her mouth wide open, her face was the colour of ash. It looked
lifeless. This very thought disturbed her so much that she diverted her mind and looked outside the
car. She saw the trees by the roadside which seemed to be running. There were young children
running into the playground. All this symbolised life, energy and happiness in contrast to her mother’s
appearance. When she reached the airport, she again looked at her ailing mother who looked old and
dull like the weak moon in the winter season. The poet was surrounded by the same fear that she had
during her childhood - the fear of losing her mother. She thought that may be this was the last time
that she saw her mother alive. Her mother was about to die. But then she tried to come out of the
sadness and smiled at her mother. She said that soon she would see her again. The poet wanted to be
with her mother again and did not want to lose her.
CENTRAL • The poem, ‘My Mother at Sixty-Six,’ is an
intimate work presenting the poet’s thoughts.
It deals with the feeling of fear and emotions
THEME that daughters experience with their mothers.
Any child is attached to its mother. Similarly,
children generally are afraid of losing their
mothers. This poem brings out this ordinary
but profound human nature through a
personal reverie. Death is inevitable but
people are afraid of losing their dear ones. As
the poet expresses, the bond between a
mother and her child is special; and therefore,
the anxiety in losing the relationship is also
strong. As its thematic concern, the poem
brings out the inner thoughts of a daughter
for her mother.
 • The poem, ‘My Mother at Sixty-Six,’ is confessional. As

FORM,
such, it is a first-person monologue(The first-person
narrative perspective is a literary style in which the narrator
tells a story about him or herself.) It runs like an aside (An

STYLE
aside is a dramatic device that is used within plays to help
characters express their inner thoughts). The poet expresses
her inner thoughts and her reactions to those thoughts. The
language is conversational. The arrangement of the lines is
AND free and fluid. The poetic touch appears when the poet
describes her mother and her old age. She first compares her
mother’s appearance to that of a corpse. She then describes

LITERAR her mother as the winter moon. In both instances, the poet
alludes to the imminent death of her mother. It is usually
mothers who describe their children as moons, but here, an

Y affectionate daughter describes her mother as a moon. The

last lines of the poem repeat (Repetition is an important
poetic technique that sees writers reuse words, phrases,

DEVICES images, or structures multiple times within a poem). the

word ‘smile’, indicating that people helplessly display such
gestures to express their true feelings for their loved ones.
Poetic devices can be simply referred to as a
form of literary devices which are used in
poetry. They are used as different elements in
a poem in verbal, visual, structural, rhythmic,
metrical, grammatical elements, and so on.
These poetic devices are tools used
by poets to augment the meaning of a poem,
make it rhythmic pleasing, or intensify the
core emotion, mood, or feeling represented in
the poem
 Assonance: Here we see the use of vowel sound that is ‘o’.(To
Cochin last Friday morning)
Assonance: Use of vowel sound ‘o’,’a’, ‘e’ (doze, open-mouthed, her
face ashen like that of a corpse)
Simile: The colour of the mother’s face has been compared to that of
a corpse – ashen. use of ‘like’ (her face ashen like that of a corpse)

POETIC Consonance: use of the sound ‘s’ and ‘t’

imagery: when the poet say trees sprinting, merry children spilling
DEVICES Repetition: Repeated use of ‘looked’ 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).
Extract based questions
“ ... but soon
put that thought away, and
looked out at young trees sprinting, the merry children spilling out of their homes.”
(i) The above extract has been taken from _____.
(ii)The poet started looking out at the young trees to _____.
(iii)In the above extract, the young sprinting trees signify.
1) energy 2) fast pace of life 3) youthfulness 4) life 5) death
a) 2, 4 and 5 (b) 2, 3 and 4 (c) 1, 3 and 4 (d) 3, 4 and 5
iv. Which thought did the poet put away?
v. The phrase ‘merry children’symbolizes
1. Pain 2. Nostalgia 3. Happiness 4. Sluggishness 5. Vitality 6.Exuberance
b) 3, 5 and 6 b) 1, 2, and 4 c) 4 and 5 d) only 6
vi. What is the most likely reason the poet capitalised ‘Young Trees’?
Q&A (Answer in
40 to 50 words)
Q1. A smile does not always indicate
happiness.'
Does My Mother at Sixty-Six reflect this
statement? Justify your response with an
example from the poem.
Q2. Discuss mother- daughter relationship
as described in the poem