My Mother At Sixty-six by- Kamla Das
About the poet
Bom in 1934 in Malabar, Kerala
died in 2009 in Pune, Mumbai
Pen name-Madhavikutty, English and Malayalam writer
Her works are known for their
Originality
versatility and
Indigenous flavours
English works
-Alphabet of Lust (novel) (1977)
-Padmawati the Harlot and other Stories" (Collection of short Stories
- Summer in Calcutta
She is a sensitive writer who Captures the complex subtleties of human
relationship.
Summary :-
The poem is taken from Kamla das’ Selected poems (2014)
The poem confesses a daughter’s fear of losing her aging mother. The
poetess says that while driving fom her parents home to Cochin airport,
last Friday morning she saw her mother sitting beside her in the car
dozing open mouthed. Due to very old age, her face-smokey in Colour like
ash appeared as if of a corpse (dead body). Seeing the face the, daughter
(the poetess). realises that her mother was as old as she looked -means
very old. She becomes emotional and disturbed by the fact that her
mother may soon die of old age. But soon, to give up that thought, She
looked out of the Car and notices how the rest of the world appears young
and energetic. This is in contrast to her mother who continues to age.
Outside she sees the passing young green trees and the happy young
children coming out of their houses to play.
“ trees Sprinting, the marry children spilling out of their homes.”
This scenery distracts the poet's thoughts about her mother for a while
during the Car journey. But her mother's appearance pulls her back once
again during the airport security check.
Standing a few yard's away, once again the poetess observe her mother's
weak and faded face. (wan and pale). She compares her mother to a late
winter's moon. This shows that her mother is In the last stage of her lif,
much like winter. She felt the old familiar pain of losing her mother once
she had in her childhood. As a child the poetess was so afraid of losing her
mother that she never would leave her alone.
The poetess, now a grown up woman and Can hide her feelings and fears.
She simply smiles at her mither and bids farewell as she moves towards
her flight saying
“See you soon Amma"
Thus the poem ends in the optimistic behaviour people display towards
their loved ones.
Analysis of the poem.
Theme:-
-Fear and emotion of a daughter towards her aging mother - thought of
losing her.
-Subtleties of human relationship
Tone:- Pensive,sad,sorrowful, Melancholic
Language and style:-
-Conversational
-Confessional
-first person monologue
- free verse
-Stream of consciousness technique (single chain of thought without full
stop in between )
It's a 20 line poem in Single sentence. Rhyming scheme - no rhyme -Free
verse.
Poetic devices
1.Asonance-
Home....cochin, morning....mother , doze ...open mouthed- “ 0” sound
2. Simile
-her face ashen like that of a corpse -as late winter's moon
3. Imagery - (Life and happiness) "Trees sprinting, the merry children
spilling out their home.
4. Personification - trees sprinting (trees running behind)
5. Contrast - world old (mother inside the car) and young (trees/children)
6. Symbolism- "Winter's moon" is symbol of decay/death/old age.
7. Alliteration -See you soon Amma
-my mother -Sixty-six
8. Metaphor - Face ashen - face was Smokey for colour like ashes
merry children spilling (energy of children -glass full of liquid
9.Repetition -smile and simile and Smile
10.Ellipsis (....) at the end of the last line
11. Tautology -"wan, pale ( Repetition of unnecessary word..both the
words have same meaning).
12. Irony-The speaker does not actually smile but was apparently sobbing
inside her heart hiding her real emotions.
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