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My Mother at Sixty - Six Notes

The poem 'My Mother at Sixty-Six' by Kamala Das explores the themes of aging and the inevitable separation between mother and child. Through various poetic devices such as simile, imagery, and contrast, the poet reflects on her mother's frailty and the vitality of youth, symbolized by children and young trees. The emotional weight of the poem is underscored by the poet's parting words and smile, which convey both love and a deep sense of loss.

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8 views2 pages

My Mother at Sixty - Six Notes

The poem 'My Mother at Sixty-Six' by Kamala Das explores the themes of aging and the inevitable separation between mother and child. Through various poetic devices such as simile, imagery, and contrast, the poet reflects on her mother's frailty and the vitality of youth, symbolized by children and young trees. The emotional weight of the poem is underscored by the poet's parting words and smile, which convey both love and a deep sense of loss.

Uploaded by

poojithamoorthy11208
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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My Mother at Sixty-Six

- Kamala Das

Poetic Devices:
1. Assonance: Prominent sound of 'o': i. “home to Cochin last Friday morning”, “doze,
open mouthed, her face ashen like that of a corpse”
2. Simile: The colour of the poetess' mother’s face has been compared to that of a corpse
using like “her face ashen like that of a corpse”, “pale as a late winter’s moon”
3. Consonance: Prominent sound of 't': “put that thought away and looked out at
young”. Prominent sound of 's': “that she was old as she looked but soon”
4. Imagery: The description about children playing and sprinting trees is given: “trees
sprinting, the merry children spilling out of their homes”
5. Repetition: The word “looked” has been repeated throughout the poem, “smile”
repeated at the end of the poem.
6. Personification: The trees are said to be sprinting (running): “trees sprinting, the
merry children spilling”
7. Contrast: The difference between poetess mother and the children is shown by using
the word old and young.
8. Symbolism: “winter’s moon” is a symbol of decay, “young trees sprinting”
symbolises freshness of life, “merry children spilling” symbolises youth, energy and
life, jubilation.
9. Alliteration: “but all I said was, see you soon, Amma.”
10. Metaphor: “trees sprinting, the merry children spilling”
11. Apostrophe: “see you soon, Amma”. This rhetorical device is used when a poet
addresses his or her poem to an absent audience. In this poem, the poet uses the
device of apostrophe, when she speaks directly to her mother, addressing her as
“Amma”, even though we never see her mother replying to the poet.
12. Rhyme Scheme: Free verse

Questions and Answers:

1. What is the kind of pain and ache that the poet feels?
The poet, while leaving her parent's home, observes her mother's pallid face. For the poet, the
'ashen' face of her mother, loss of all vitality and colour, bears resemblance to a corpse. She
realises, with pain, that her mother has grown old and is nearing her death. Such thoughts
make her recollect her childhood fear and anxiety of losing her mother. The idea of getting
separated from her mother distresses her. Even her smiles are an expression of her
helplessness at the face of what is inevitable.

2. Why are the young trees described as 'sprinting'?


While driving to the airport, in an effort to distract herself from the thoughts of her ageing
mother, the poet looks at the young trees 'sprinting'. The trees seem to be running past the
moving car. The sprinting of the trees symbolises the rapidly passing years of human's life
from childhood to old age. This image, which shows activity and strength, is contrasted with
that of her old and weak mother who seems dormant, sleeping in the car. The 'young' trees
represent life in contrast to her mother's approaching death.

3. Why has the poet brought in the image of the merry children 'spilling out of their homes'?
In the poem, the poet has shown contrasting images of life and death. She has incorporated
the image of the merry children, running out of their houses to play, in order to signify
liveliness, vigour, health, beauty and happiness. This image is a sharp contrast to that of her
mother who is nearing her death and has become old, inactive, weak and withered. The poet
has juxtaposed the two images to indicate the contrasts between them. Childhood marks the
beginning of life whereas old age marks its end.

4. Why has the mother been compared to the 'late winter's moon'?
With the growing age, the poet's mother has started losing all her vitality and radiance. The
poet uses the simile of 'late winter's moon' for her mother to indicate her approaching death.
Winter, being the last season of the year, is synonymous with lifelessness and dormancy.
And, a winter's moon is also pale-white in colour bearing close resemblance with her mother
who, having lost all her strength and beauty, looks 'wan' and 'pale' to the poet. Her mother,
too, is in the last phase of her life.

5. What do the parting words of the poet and her smile signify?
The poet's parting words, "see you soon, Amma," signify both her farewell to her mother and
an effort to leave her with optimism and cheer. They also enable the poet to empathise with
the sense of isolation faced by her mother in the old age. Her smiles signify her helplessness
at the face of her mother's inevitable death. They express her love and concern for her mother
along with the underlying pain and struggle that she undergoes in coming to terms with this
bitter realisation.

*****

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