MY MOTHER AT SIXTY-SIX

1.Read the poem and answer the questions that follow.

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 realized 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 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 ….

1.What is the speaker’s emotional state when looking at her mother? (Give a tick mark)

Empathetic and understanding / Nostalgic and longing / Confused and disoriented

Fearful and apprehensive

2.Choose the option that displays the same poetic device as used in the third line .

Life is full of ups and downs / The lanky lad troubled all / As white as snow /

Nature is god’s gift to us.

3. What were the reasons for mother’s pale face?

a.Her old age / b. Her depleting energy / c. Her illness /d. Both (a) and (b)

4.What is the poet’s emotional state when she looked out of the window?

Fearful / Apprehensive / Nostalgic / Confused

5. Select the word that WILL NOT complete the sentence appropriately.

The expression ‘merry children’ does not bring in .

Weakness / happiness / vigour / playfulness

6.Choose the option that displays the same poetic device as used in the line “.. Young trees
sprinting, the merry children spilling …”.
a.The sizzling summer took a toll on us. b.I’m as happy as I can be.

c.Life is a roller coaster ride. d.The flood swallowed more than a dozen villages.

7.The fact that the poem’s narrative style is single sentence, punctuated by commas shows that

(a) the lines are all being intermingled in the poet’s mind

(b) there is only one thought which runs through the poem.

(c) there is only one topic which made the poet fearful.

(d) many sub ideas are connected to the main idea of the poem.

8.Select the best option to complete the following sentence.

“Her face ashen like that of a corpse” means that to the poet’s mother’s face was .

(a) pale and lively (b) vivid and lifeless (c) bright and lively (d) pale and lifeless

9.Select the word that WILL NOT complete the sentence appropriately.

The theme of the given poem is .-----------------------------------------------

(a) fear of separation (b) aging (c) stolen childhood (d) fear of loss

10.Which of the following themes is best represented in the poem?

(a) Depiction of human relationships / (b) Power of imagination

(c) Inevitable relationships / (d) Immortality of art and literature

11. What does the poet feel at the airport ?

(a) Happy (b) Upset (c) Sad (d) Resignation

12.Complete the sentence appropriately.

a. The repetition of the word, ‘smile’ suggests that -----------------------------------

b. Poet’s mother is compared to a ‘late winter’s moon’ because ----------------------

c. ‘The merry children spilling out of their homes’ is symbolic of --------------.

d.The figure of speech used in the lines ‘the young trees sprinting is --------------- .

e. In ‘And looked out at Young Tress sprinting, the merry children spilling,’ the figures of
speech used are ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
f. The phrase ‘that of a corpse’ means that she has lost her -------- and -------------.

g. The use of the young and old is used to highlight -----------------------------------------

13.State whether the given statement is TRUE or FALSE, with reference to the poem.

a.The poet is ached by the fact that her mother is no longer young.

b.When the poet looks at her mother again, she is trying to be hopeful.

c.The poet’s action of looking out of the window did not work.

d.The poetic device used in the line, ‘she was as old as she looked’ is same as the one used in the
line, ‘she was as busy as a bee’

e.The poet compares the youth and joy of children with the old age frailty of mother.

f. The poetic device used in the expression, Wan pale, as a late winter’s moon’ is the same as
‘My thoughts were like grey clouds that evening’.

g. The poetic device used in the line, ‘ashen like that of a corpse’ is the same as the one used in
the line, “O my love is like a red, red rose”.

14.Answer these questions briefly.

a. What does the use of the word “but” at the beginning of the line, ‘but all I said..’, suggest ?

b. What is the “old familiar ache” of the poet?

c.Do you think that the poet was hopeful of seeing her mother again?

d. What does the use of the phrase ‘old familiar ache’ actually hide?

e.Why has the poet capitalised ‘Young Trees’ ?

f…Why were the young trees sprinting?

h.Why did the poet put the thought away?

i.Identify the phrase from the extract that suggests the following :

The poet did not relish the thought of her mother’s death due to old age.