Poem - My
Mother at Sixty Six (Kamala Das)
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
………………..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......
Very Short Type Q-Ans.
Ans. Kamala Das
Ans. To Cochin
Ans. Her mother
Ans. Pale and weak as a dead body
Ans. Trees were running fast
Ans. Children were coming out from
their houses
Ans. To the late winter moon
Ans. See you soon again
Ans. To see her sick and old mother
Ans. She felt the old childhood fear
Ans. That her mother would soon die
Short Type Q-Ans.
Q. 1 What is the kind
of pain and the ache that the poetess feels?
Ans. The poet sees at her mother pale and weak face. She
looks as pale as a dead body. She realises that her mother looks very old and
will not long live. She fears that she will not see her mother again. This
thought gives her much pain.
Q. 2 Why are the young
trees described as ‘sprinting’?
Ans. The poetess is going in a car to the airport. Her mother
is sitting beside her. She looks outside and finds the trees coming fast
towards her. They seem to be running fast. In fact, it is only the car that is
running, not the trees.
Q. 3 Why has the mother
been compared to the ‘late winter’s moon’?
Ans. Because the late winter’s moon looks very pale and
colourless. The poetess’ mother is also old. She looks pale like late winter’s
moon. That is why her mother has been compared to the ‘late winter’s moon.’
Q. 4 Where is the
poetess going and who is with her?
Ans. The poetess is going to Cochin airport in the morning of
last Friday. She is going in a car. The poetess’s mother is also sitting beside
her. Her mother looks very old and weak.
Q. 5 How do we know
that the poetess’ mother is old and weak?
Ans. The poetess mother looked as pale as death. She was
dozing and her mouth was opened. Her face looked very pale like that of a
corpse. This shows that she was weak and old.
Q. 6 What does the
poetess see outside?
Ans. The poetess saw outside the young trees that seemed to
be running fast. She looked at the children who were coming of their homes in
joy.
Essay Type Q-Ans.
Q. 1 Give a brief
summary of Kamala Das’s Poem ‘My Mother at Sixty-Six’.
OR
Analyse the Poem ‘My Mother at
Sixty-Six briefly.
Ans. It was Friday morning. The poetess was going to the
Cochin airport. Her sixty-six years old mother was sitting beside her. The
poetess’ mother looked as pale as dead body. A sad thought came into the
poetess mind. But she soon drove this thought away and started looked at the
trees that seemed to be running fast. She saw children coming out of their
homes in joy. After reaching the airport, the poetess went through the security
check, standing a few yards away. She again looked at her mother. The mother
looked pale and weak. But the poetess said nothing but this “Amma, see you
soon.” Then she smiled and smiled and smiled. That was all she did.
Important Spellings & word-meanings
Spellings
·
ashen
·
corpse
·
realised
·
affection
·
sprinting
·
spilling
·
daughter
·
familiar
·
accompanies
·
ache
·
children
·
Cochin
·
security
·
arouse
Word-meanings
§ arouse- awake, rouse
§ doze- drowse, snooze, sleep lightly
§ ashen- ash coloured, bloodless
§ corpse- stiff, dead body
§ unconscious- thought away
§ sprinting- running fast
§ spilling- coming out
§ wan- sick, pale, weak, colourless
§ familiar- well known
§ ache- pain