what are the merry children spilling out of their homes,symbolic of ?
Answers
The merry children spilling out of their homes are symbolic of ever continuing life. The poetess, Kamla Das looked at young trees and merry children to divert her mind from the sad and melancholy thoughts her mind had started thinking. She was sitting in the car beside her mother. Her mother had dozed off. The poetess observed that her mother had grown quite old and weak. Her face was looking ashen like that of corpse. The fearful thoughts related to the imminent death of her mother began disturbing her. In order to stop these thoughts, she looked out of the car at the young trees speeding past and children running out of their houses to play. This allayed her fears also.
Explanation:
The poet has brought in the image of merry children ‘spilling out of their homes’ to present a contrast. The merry children coming out of their homes in large numbers present an image of happiness and spontaneous overflow of life. This image is in stark contrast to the ‘dozing’ old mother, whose ‘ashen’ face looks lifeless and pale like a corpse. She is an image of ageing, decay and passivity. The contrast of the two images enhances the poetic effect.