NCERT Textbook: Poem 1 - My Mother at Sixty Six - Notes | Study English Class 12 - Class 12

 Page 1


My Mother at Sixty-six
Kamala Das
An Elementary School
Classroom in a Slum
Stephen Spender
Keeping Quiet
Pablo Neruda
A Thing of Beauty
John Keats
A Roadside Stand
Robert Frost
Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers
Adrienne Rich
PO PO
PO PO POE E
E E ETR TR
TR TR TRY Y
Y Y Y
2022-23
Page 2


My Mother at Sixty-six
Kamala Das
An Elementary School
Classroom in a Slum
Stephen Spender
Keeping Quiet
Pablo Neruda
A Thing of Beauty
John Keats
A Roadside Stand
Robert Frost
Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers
Adrienne Rich
PO PO
PO PO POE E
E E ETR TR
TR TR TRY Y
Y Y Y
2022-23
90/Flamingo
My Mother at Sixty-six
About the poet
Kamala Das (1934-2009) was born in Malabar, Kerala.
She is recognised as one of India’s foremost poets. Her
works are known for their originality, versatility and
the indigenous flavour of the soil. Kamala Das has
published many novels and short stories in English and
Malayalam under the name ‘Madhavikutty’. In addition
to five books of poetry. She is a sensitive writer who
captures the complex subtleties of human relationships
in lyrical idiom, My Mother at Sixty-six is an example.
Before you read
Ageing is a natural process; have you ever thought what our
elderly parents expect from us?
1
Driving from my parent’s
home to Cochin last Friday
morning, I saw my mother,
beside me,
doze, open mouthed, her face
ashen like that
of a corpse and realised with
pain
that she was as old as she
looked but soon
put that thought away, and
looked out at Young
Trees sprinting, the merry children spilling
out of their homes, but after the airport’s
security check, standing a few yards
2022-23
Page 3


My Mother at Sixty-six
Kamala Das
An Elementary School
Classroom in a Slum
Stephen Spender
Keeping Quiet
Pablo Neruda
A Thing of Beauty
John Keats
A Roadside Stand
Robert Frost
Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers
Adrienne Rich
PO PO
PO PO POE E
E E ETR TR
TR TR TRY Y
Y Y Y
2022-23
90/Flamingo
My Mother at Sixty-six
About the poet
Kamala Das (1934-2009) was born in Malabar, Kerala.
She is recognised as one of India’s foremost poets. Her
works are known for their originality, versatility and
the indigenous flavour of the soil. Kamala Das has
published many novels and short stories in English and
Malayalam under the name ‘Madhavikutty’. In addition
to five books of poetry. She is a sensitive writer who
captures the complex subtleties of human relationships
in lyrical idiom, My Mother at Sixty-six is an example.
Before you read
Ageing is a natural process; have you ever thought what our
elderly parents expect from us?
1
Driving from my parent’s
home to Cochin last Friday
morning, I saw my mother,
beside me,
doze, open mouthed, her face
ashen like that
of a corpse and realised with
pain
that she was as old as she
looked but soon
put that thought away, and
looked out at Young
Trees sprinting, the merry children spilling
out of their homes, but after the airport’s
security check, standing a few yards
2022-23
My Mother at Sixty-six/91
away, I looked again at her, wan,
pale
as a late winter’s moon and felt that
old
familiar ache, my childhood’s fear,
but all I said was, see you soon,
Amma,
all I did was smile and smile and
smile......
sprinting : short fast race, running
wan : colourless
Think it out
1. What is the kind of pain and ache that the poet feels?
2. Why are the young trees described as ‘sprinting’?
3. Why has the poet brought in the image of the merry children
‘spilling out of their homes’?
4. Why has the mother been compared to the ‘late winter’s moon’?
5. What do the parting words of the poet and her smile signify?
Notice that the whole poem is in a single sentence, punctuated
by commas.
It indicates a single thread of thought interspersed with
observations of the real world around and the way these are
connected to the main idea.
2022-23