My Mother At Sixty Six

By Kamala Das

Difficult Words And Their Meanings

WORDS MEANINGS

Beside Along side/next to

Doze Nap/sleeping

Ashen Pale / colourless

Corpse Dead body

Merry Happy and cheerful

Spilling Let out

Sprinting Moving Fast

Wan Dim/weak

Pale Dull / colourless

Ache Continuous feeling of pain

Introduction To The Poem

In this poem the poetess Kamala Das beautifully highlights the complexities of
human relationships .This poem is one of the best examples of human bonding .
Poet Kamala Das describes her painful feelings of fear of losing her mother. She
is very much worried About her aging mother . She fears that she will not see
her mother again.

Explanation
Stanza -1
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….
Explanation –

In this first stanza the poetess is describing about her old mother. The poetess
remembers the day when driving her car .she was going to Cochin airport .

Her mother was sitting beside her in the car .The mother was going to see of the
poetess . But on the way when the poetess turned to look at her mother , she
was dozing (sleeping) and her mouth was opened .

And her face was seeming as pale as a Corpse (dead person) . Suddenly a painful
and sorrowful thought came into the mind of poetess .

She realized that her mother has grown very old and she’s not going to live long.

Stanza -2.
….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,

Explanation –

The poetess immediately put that painful thought away from her mind and from
the window of the car , she looked out at young trees along side the road .Which
seemed running very fast . And she also looked happy children who were
coming and running out from their houses in large numbers .

Finally the poetess reached the airport and she had to go through the security
check there .Her mother was standing a few yards away from her . At that point
once again she looked at her mother.

It must be remembered that while coming in the car , the poetess and her
mother did not speak a single word to each other . Still she was staring at her
mother from a distance. It is a thoughtful fact that what kind of attitude the
modern youths have towards their old aged beloved one.

Stanza – 3
………..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……

Explanation –
After Security Check , the poetess looked at her mother who was standing a few
yards away from her .She was looking week and pale .Her face was looking just
like a yellowing moon of late winter season .

The poetess felt some old familiar pain and fear. It was same as she had felt in
her childhood but she could not speak a single word to her mother.

The only words she could speak were “See you soon Amma” . And she (poetess)
smiled and smiled and smiled .

These words highlights that the youths of Modern time have deep sympathy to
their old aged beloved ones . But they are unable to express their sympathy
properly .

Literary Devices:

Assonance:

1)Here we see the use of vowel sound that is ‘o’.(To Cochin last Friday morning)

2) Use of vowel sound ‘o’,’a’, ‘e’ (doze, open mouthed, her face ashen like that

of a corpse)

Simile:

1)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)

2)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).

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

imagery: when the poet say trees sprinting, merry children spilling

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.