Poetic Devices & Key Takeaways from "My Mother at Sixty Six"
Authored by the renowned poet Kamala Das, My Mother at Sixty-Six of Class 12 English is a poem depicting human relationship. Human relationships are complicated and this poem does a brilliant job of eliciting the same through its verses. The summary of My Mother at Sixty-Six for Class 12 English will depict how the author has captured the nurtured bond between a daughter and her mother. The poem dwells on the feelings of the daughter who fears losing her mother. My Mother at Sixty-Six Summary provides an overview of the poem and what the author is trying to portray with the words.
My Mother at Sixty-Six Class 12 Summary in English
The poem My Mother at Sixty-Six begins with a daughter observing her mother closely as they begin their journey towards the Cochin airport. The author paints a very vivid image of how the mother has aged and as she describes the same, she also mentions the fear lurking in the mind of the daughter, the fear of losing her mother. The author describes the mother’s face as whitish, sleeping with an open mouth, which she says is almost comparable to a corpse.
The sudden realization pangs at the heart of the daughter and she chooses to shift her attention by looking outside the window of the car. The scenery outside provides an upliftment to the daughter’s mood. The huge trees with the freshly sprinted green leaves, children playing cheerfully represented life, energy and vigor. Here, we see that the narrator is drifted back to her own childhood days where she remembers her mother as beautiful and young. This is in sharp contrast to the present scenario and this makes the daughter’s heart heavy.
As we read through the poem, we know that the daughter has reached the airport, where she is saddened by the fact that she has to depart from her mother. The author sees her mother in the backdrop of the dusky evening as begins to bid farewell. Here, the narrator compares the mother’s smile to the winters’ late-night moon. The poet has beautifully illustrated the sense by comparing the image of the aging mother with the light of the moon being obstructed by the haze and the fog. This metaphor is a representation of the old age of the mother.
We then see that the pain of separation makes the daughter more vulnerable as she is terrified of losing her mother unexpectedly. The daughter’s heart is filled with emotions of grief and she is overwhelmed at the thought of separating from her dear mother. However, we see that the daughter puts on a brave face and quietly smiles. She keeps her hopes up of seeing her mother and bids farewell to her mother with the words, “See You Soon, Amma”.
The narrator thus prevents the environment from getting too emotional and painful. Also, she does not want to leave her mother teary-eyed. The author says that the daughter wishes that her mother also lives her life fully and happily.
To summarize, My Mother of Sixty-Six is a beautiful poem describing the beautiful bond between a daughter and her mother. The key takeaway from the summary of My Mother at Sixty-Six is that aging is a process that is bound to happen inevitably. The journey of an individual starts in the womb of the mother. As a child, a person is full of life and is energetic and gradually the child becomes an adult. Eventually, the person moves towards his/her old age and then embraces death. This is the cycle of life. The author of My Mother at Sixty-Six does a great job of depicting how relationships between individuals become more consolidated with age. The thought of losing someone dear and close is unbearable and the author has beautifully depicted the same through the words of her poem.
Explanation of the Poem
In this poem, when the poet is on the way to the Cochin airport along with her old mother who was sitting beside her, she looks at her mother very closely and presents her image before us. She compares her mother's face with a corpse. When she looked at her mother's pale face, she was numbed with the thought of losing her. The face of the mother was dozing and her mouth was open which was being compared with a corpse. In this poem, the poet wants to show the love and affection which is present between a mother - daughter relationship. The poet is in pain and tries to shift her attention by looking outside the car so that she can ignore the negative feelings. She was trying to change her sad mood. The scene which was outside the window is positive and of growing life and energy. The trees which symbolize young fullness along with children playing around symbolize life and positivity. The poet is recalling her own childhood when her mother was young but now she is filled with the fear of losing her which is making her insecure.
Then she was at the airport to take a flight. This was indicating the departure which looks like separation from her mother which is creating sadness in her. As and when she was saying goodbye to her mother, the image of her as old, worn out struck her again. Hair she was comparing her mother with a late winter's moon whose light was being obstacled by fog. Her mother looks old now, her personality was being affected by the same.
The poet is in the pain of separating and leaving her mother and going. She also had a fear of losing her mother in childhood but she knows that it was temporary at that time. But that fear is not coming again and it could be forever as a mother can die of old age and this fear is haunting her again and again. She was in so much pain that it would be natural for her to cry out but she was behaving bravely, hiding her tears and smiling out of it.
She then bids farewell to her mother in the hope of seeing her again alive. She does not want to create a sorrowful environment for her mother. That's why she hides her pain and conveys to her mother that she is enjoying her life to the fullest just like her mother wanted it to be.
Basically this poem revolves around the fear of loss and separation and the theme of advancing age. It has also shown the sentiments of a mother and her daughter. It has also shown the nostalgia of the past.
Conclusion
Here, we have provided you with a summary of My Mother at Sixty-Six. The poem is an ode to the deep emotional bond shared by a daughter with her mother. My Mother at Sixty-Six Summary highlights the fear of separation in the mind of the narrator as she is confronted with the fact that her mother is approaching old age. The poem concludes on a high note as the daughter is hopeful that she will be reunited with her mother soon. The feelings of fear, anxiety, grief and hope have been vividly portrayed by the author in the poem.
FAQs on My Mother at Sixty Six: Summary, Themes & Line-by-Line Analysis
1. What is the central theme explained in the poem 'My Mother at Sixty-Six'?
The poem explains the theme of advancing age and the fear of loss and separation that comes with it. It captures the complex emotions a daughter feels when she sees her mother growing old and frail, knowing that they will one day be separated by death.
2. Who was Kamala Das, and how does her personal style influence this poem?
Kamala Das was a celebrated Indian poet known for writing about personal and often confessional topics. Her style in 'My Mother at Sixty-Six' is very intimate and relatable, using simple language and a continuous flow of thought to express a deeply personal fear about her mother's mortality, making the reader feel her emotions directly.
3. What are the key poetic devices used in 'My Mother at Sixty-Six' to explain the poem's meaning?
The poem uses several key poetic devices to convey its meaning. The most important ones are:
- Simile: The mother's face is compared to a "corpse" ('her face ashen like that of a corpse') and the "late winter's moon" to show her paleness and lack of energy.
- Personification: The "young trees" are described as "sprinting" to represent life, energy, and the passage of time.
- Contrast: The poet contrasts the image of her ageing, pale mother with the vibrant, energetic trees and children outside.
4. Why does the poet compare her mother's face to a 'late winter's moon'?
This is a powerful simile used for explanation. A late winter's moon looks pale, lacks brightness, and is often unclear. The poet uses this comparison to explain her mother's appearance—she looks dull, pale, and lifeless due to old age. It also signifies the approaching end of a life cycle, just as winter is the end of a year.
5. What is the importance of the 'young trees sprinting' and the 'merry children spilling' in the poem?
These images of life and energy are used to create a sharp contrast with the poet's ageing mother inside the car. The sprinting trees and happy children represent youth, vitality, and the continuous flow of life. This contrast makes the silent, pale mother appear even more frail, highlighting the poet's deep-seated fear.
6. Why does the narrator smile at the end of the poem if she is feeling sad?
The smile is a deliberate act to hide her true feelings of fear and sadness. She smiles to reassure her mother and perhaps herself, putting on a brave face to avoid upsetting her mother at their parting. The repeated use of "smile and smile and smile" shows the effort it takes to conceal her inner pain and ends the poem with a feeling of hope, however faint.
7. What is the 'old familiar ache' that the poet explains feeling?
The 'old familiar ache' refers to the childhood fear of losing or being separated from her mother. It's a deep-seated anxiety from her past. Seeing her mother's aged and frail face brings this old fear back to the surface, but now it feels more real and immediate because her mother is visibly closer to the end of her life.
