.......... I saw my mother, beside me, doze, open mouthed, her face ashen like that of a corpse and realised with pain ..........
(a) Who is ‘I?
(b) What did ‘I’ realise with pain?
(c) Why was the realisation painful?
(d) Identify and name the figure of speech used in these lines.
Answers
Answer:
a) I is the poet Kamala Das
b) I realise with pain that her mother is old and that her face has ashened like that of a corpse.
c) The realisation was painful because she was afraid of losing her mother.
d)
My Mother at Sixty Six
a) 'I' in the heart touching poem 'My Mother at Sixty Six' is the poet Kamla Das herself in the poem.
The poem is in the the first person narrative. It is autobiographical in context.
The 'I' in the poem reflects the thoughts and realisation of the poet, Kamla Das.
b) On the way to the airport with her sleeping mother beside her in the car, the poet Kamla Das suddenly looked at her mother. A fearful realization gripped her. She had to acknowledge the cruel truth that her dear mother had aged tremendously.
She was sixty six years old and the age had caught on to her making her look old and tired.
c)The realisation was extremely painful as this acute aging foreshadowed the approaching end of her mother. Age is always accompanied by Death. Death of a dear one is the saddest Truth on Earth. Hence this realisation of the poet about her mother was very painful.
d)There are two main figures of speech in the given lines-Visual Imagery and Simile.
The words doze, open mouthed, ashen face all create a visual image of an aged person.
The comparison of the poet's mother's face to that of a corpse is the use of a simile- 'her face ashen like that of a corpse'.
Learn more on My Mother at Sixty Six:
My mother at sixty six summary line by line explanation - Brainly.in
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