My mother at Sixty-Six | Summary |CBSE| Class-12
Poet – Kamala Das
This poem is rich in imaginary, compare and contrast. The poet comments on the feelings of pain one’s feel for the ageing parents. The poet was driving from her parents home to Cochin last Friday Morning and she saw her mother beside her dozing, open mouthed which symbolises death. Her face is compared to dead body as it is dull, pale, and ashen ( figures of speech is “simile”). The poet realised with pain that the mother was ageing and her death was approaching. She was unable to bear , the look of her mother so she put this fear of losing her mother away and looked outside the window.
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She saw young trees sprinting (figures of speech used “personification”) and merry children spilling( figures of speech used “metaphor”). To bring out the contrast- children present an image of happiness, life, energy , zeal, activity and enthusiasm. The mother is an image of ageing, death, dullness, decay and passivity. After the security check the poet looked at her mother’s face again. The pale and colourless face of the mother resembles the late winter’s moon. The late winter’s moon, moon is hazy (not clear) , lacks of brightness and strength which is similar to mother’s wan(colourless), pale and dull face ( figures of speech used “simile”). Seeing this, the poet feels her childhood fear of losing her mother. The poet highlights the ultimate death and separation. The poet puts a brave face, composes herself, hides her real feelings and overcomes the emotions and assure her mother to see her soon. She deliberately puts her smile to hide her feelings and fear but death is inevitable ; time and ageing spares no one.
Think it out (Exercise Questions) :
Ans1. The poetess looks at pale and sticky face of her mother. She looks like a dead body. The old childhood fears of the poetess comes back. She fears that her mother will depart from this world soon , she will not see her mother again. She smiles at her mother. But her heart is sad. She feels an ache in her heart to see her ageing mother.
Ans2. The poetess is going in a car with her mother. She looks out of the window. She finds that young trees are racing backwards. They are a symbol of youth and energy. On the other hand, the poetess mother is slipping towards death.
Ans3. The poetess looks out of the car. She finds happy children running out of their homes. They symbolise the start of life’s journey. The image of happy children is in contrast to her mother whose life journey is coming to an end. The image of these children makes poetess sad because she thinks that growth and decay go hand in hand.
Ans4. The late winter’s moon looks hazy. It loses its shine and brightness. The poetess mother is also old. She is at the end of her life’s journey. She has lost that energy which she had in her youth. That is why poetess compares her mother to the late winter’s moon.
Ans5. The poetess is going to catch a plane. She bids farewell to her mother. She smiles and expresses hope to see her mother again. She hopes that they will meet again. But smile and the parting words only hide her fears. These words and the smiles are meant to give assurance to old lady. However, in her heart, the poetess fears that she will not see her mother again.
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