My Mother at Sixty-six Poetic Devices and Elements|Most Important Concept of Poetry

My Mother at Sixty-six Poetic Devices NCERT Class 12 English

Imagery in Mother’s Sixty-six

Kamla Das uses imagery in her poem, My Mother’s Sixty-six, to explain her main concept that ageing is natural and every one of us has to go through this process of ageing in our life. We should not worry about ageing as it is natural. The poet uses the concept of death and youth by using imagery. “Trees sprinting, merry children spilling.” The poet explains this by comparing her mother’s old age with trees and young children.

Simile in My Mother’s Sixty-six

“face ashen like a corpse,” “as a late winter’s moon.” The poet compares her mother’s old age with a corpse and winter’s moon. They are the symbols of darkness with no hope. It means symptoms of death due to old age. The corpse and ash are there at the cremation center. The poet’s fear of losing her mother is visible in the poem, which nobody wants.

She uses words and phrases like “doze, open-mouthed”, “wan, pale as a late winter’s moon”, to tell us that these are signs of ageing. Winter’s moon symbolises the less shining moon. Due to fog, the moon’s light is not very sharp. Death is the ultimate and nobody can escape. Everyone wants to escape from old age and death. Therefore, the poet immediately looks outside toward trees and children to feel young.

Personification in My Mother at Sixty-six

The poet personifies the young trees and children. The young trees grow very fast as children are very active and are a symbol of youth, while their mother’s face is pale, ashy, and corpse-like. Her young age quickly passes and she soon becomes old like her mother. You can’t help ageing as it is natural, but it brings fear to our minds. The poet tries to divert her attention from different age groups; it is human nature. The fear of separation is everywhere, and nobody wants to leave their parents.

Metaphor in My Mother at Sixty-six

“Children spilling” is an example of a metaphor in My Mother at Sixty-six. The action of a child is used for youth, while her mother symbolises old age. There is a likeness between youth and children as both are in action.

My Mother at Sixty-six: Important elements of Poetry

Poetry is always a complex topic to understand, and sometimes the poet does not use straightforward language, making it very difficult to understand by a common reader. Therefore, you need to understand the different poetic elements to understand the poem. In her poem, My Mother’s Sixty-six, Kamla Das also uses some poetic elements. There are certain elements like structure and plot, meter, rhyme, subject, speaker, poetic devices, theme, tone and mood, and syntax.

The structure and plot of My Mother’s Sixty-Six are simple and have a contrast between situations where the poet compares young and old people. Trees and children represent youth, and her mother is a symbol of old age.

The theme of the poem is ageing and the fear of separation. Kamla Das uses these concepts to explain our attitude toward escapism.

A stanza is the structural part of any poem. Kamla Das uses two stanzas to explain her ideas about ageing in a very beautiful way by comparing and contrasting different age groups.

Learn the poetic devices and elements to understand the other poems of class 12 English. You will be able to create interest in understanding the zest of poetry. I have discussed the basics of poetic devices and elements of poetry. Read more about literature from the Glossary of Literary Terms.

My Mother at Sixty-six NCERT Complete Solutions Flamingo Poem 1.

•  My Mother at Sixty-Six Text

• My Mother at Sixty-Six About the Poet

• My Mother at Sixty-Six Summary

• My Mother at Sixty-Six Theme, Main Idea

• My Mother at Sixty-Six Comprehension Stanzas 

• My Mother at Sixty-Six Short Questions and Answers

• My Mother at Sixty-six 33 MCQ questions and answers NCERT Class 12 English Poem 1