CBSE Class 12-science Answered

1. What different images does the poet use to convey the idea of her mother’s old age?

A. The poet describes her mother’s age as a late winter’s moon. Her pale, bloodless and wrinkled  face resembles that of a corpse. She has no vigor and energy left in her. She looks wan and pale. The sprinting trees and merry children are happy and young. They present a contrast to the mother’s pain and old age and the poet’s worry and fear. They symbolise youth, vigor and spring whereas the mother is old, decaying and frail.

2. What poetic devices have been used in the poem ‘My Mother at Sixty Six

In the poem ‘My mother at sixty-six', the poet has used a lot of imagery, contrast and similes. She has described her mother's face ‘ashen’ like a corpse. She compares her wan face with a ‘late winter’s moon’. The dozing mother is contrasted with sprinting young trees and spilling children out of their homes. Thus, there is a fine blend of activity, life, decay and happiness.