LANDSCAPE OF THE SOUL, TUTORIAL FOR THE STUDENTS OF CBSE CLASS 11.

PART TWO

My dear friends and viewers, welcome back to this page. This is the second part of the tutorial My Mother at Sixty-six. In this video I am going discuss poetic devices followed by summary, questions and answers and extra questions for your practice.

POETIC DEVICES

1. her face/ashen like that/of a corpse simile

2. Young/Trees sprinting                                  personification

3. children spilling/out of their homes,           metaphor

4. wan, pale/as a late winter’s moon               simile

5. smile and smile and/smile......                      repetition

SUMMARY

The poet was driving from her parents’ home to Cochin by car on a Friday. Her mother was by her side, dozing, and open mouthed, very pale, like a dead body signifying her end was near.

Then the poet looked at her and felt extreme pain to realize that her mother would die soon.

She tried to divert her mind and looked outside at the young trees and happy children spilling out of their homes in a playful manner.

After the security check at the airport she looked again, standing a few yards away, at her mother’s colourless face.

The poet felt a familiar pain that she had been suffering from since her childhood. It was the pain of separation and loss.  The poet reassures her mother that they would meet again very soon.

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

Think it out

1. What is the kind of pain and ache that the poet feels?

Ans. The poet feels the pain of impending loss and separation from her mother. Her mother is pale and frail. The poet realizes that the dawn of death is descending on her. This thought has plagued her and the poet is in pain and ache.

2. Why are the young trees described as ‘sprinting’?

Ans. The poet was moving fast in her car towards the airport. When she looked out of the window to divert her thought she saw the trees rushing past. It was an optical illusion of the poet to see the trees sprinting backward. It brings out the contrast between her pale mother and young trees.

3. Why has the poet brought in the image of the merry children

‘spilling out of their homes’?

Ans. The poet has brought in the image of merry children spilling out of their homes just to create a stark contrast to her pale and frail mother. The merry children are full of life, vitality, youthfulness and energy. On the other hand her mother is aging, ashen and withered.

4. Why has the mother been compared to the ‘late winter’s moon’?

Ans. Late winter’s moon is dull and pale. It suggests the end of the season. Similarly the mother of the poet is also pale and ashen. That is why the poet has compared her mother to the ’late winter’s moon’. It is a simile.

5. What do the parting words of the poet and her smile signify?

Ans. The parting words of the poet depict the irony of the situation.

Though there is smile on the countenance of the poet, the aching heart pains for the impending loss and separation from her mother. There is an apparent optimism shrouded in the mist of scepticism.

EXTRA QUESTIONS

1. Why did the poet look out of the car window?

2. Mention two adjectives to describe the old age of poet’s mother?

3. Give two examples of the images used in the poem.

4. Why the word ‘Young’ has been started with capital letter?

5. Give an example of simile used in the poem.

6. What is the childhood fear of the poet?

7. Why the whole poem is in a single sentence, punctuated by commas?

8. Is there any significance of ‘last Friday’ in the poem? Give reason for your answer.

9. Use just two words to bring out the theme of the poem.

10. Bring out the universal fear depicted in the poem.

11. Is there any rhyme scheme in the poem? Is it a blank verse?

12. Which stage of human life does the title ‟My Mother at Sixty Six‟ remind you from the poem ‘The Seven Ages of Man’ by Shakespeare?

13. Bring out the contrast mentioned in the poem.