1.Where is the poet driving to?
Ans The poet is driving from her parent’s home to Cochin Airport.
2. Why is her mother’s face like that of a corpse?
Ans: For old age the poet’s mother’s face is pale, faded and lifeless.
3. Who looks out at ‘young trees’?
Ans: The poet.
4.Read the following extracts and answer the questions that follow:
(a)’………. 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….’
Questions:
(i) What was the childhood fear that now troubled the poet?
1
Ans: The poctess’s childhood fear was that she would lose her mother in one dayeither soon or late.
5.What are the ‘merry children spilling out of their homes’ symbolic of?
Ans The ‘merry children shilling out of their homes’ symbolises happiness and spontenous overflow of joy in life.
6.What do the poet’s parting words suggest?
2
Ans: The poet’s parting words suggest that she does not want to lose her mother.
7.What is the kind of pain and ache that the poet feel?
Ans: Looking at her old mother, the poetess feels pain that her mother is as old as she looks. Here the poetess’ pain and ache is about the feeling of growing old which leads to death.
8. Why did the poet smile and smile? 1
Ans: The poet smiled and smiled to hide her sadness which she felt for her aging mother.
9. ‘ but after the airpot’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….’
Questions:
(i) What did the speaker do after the security check? 1
Ans: After the seecurity check the poet looked again at her mother’s face which looked pale and wan.
10.Why was the mother been compared to the ‘late winter’s moon?
Ans: The poetess’s mother has been compared to ‘late winter’s moon because as the late winter’s moon looks pale and ash-like, so the poetess’s mother turned pale because of growing old.
11.What was the poet’s childhood fear?
Ans: The poetess’s childhood fear was that she would lose her mother one day-either soon or late.
12. Why are the young trees described as ‘sprinting’? Or What do the young sprinting trees signify?
Ans: The term ‘sprinting’ refers to running fast. Here the poetess describes the young trees as ‘sprinting’ because when she looks outside from a fast moving car, the young trees seems to pass behind with the speed of the car. Here ‘sprinting’ symbolises aging or growing old.
13. ‘But soon
put that thought away, and out at Young looked
Trees sprinting, the
………………………..’
Questions:
(i) Who looked at the young trees? 1
Ans: The poet Kamala Das looked out at the young trees.
14.Why did the poet compare her mother’s face to a late winter’s moon? 2
The poetess’s mother has been compared to ‘late winter’s moon because as the late winter’s moon looks pale and ash-like so has the poetess’s mother turned pale because of growing old.
15.Why are the young trees described as ‘sprinting’? Or What do the young sprinting trees signify?
Ans: The term ‘sprinting’ refers to running fast. Here the poetess describes the young trees as ‘sprinting’ because when she looks outside from a fast moving car, the young trees seems to pass behind with the speed of the car. Here ‘sprinting’ symbolises aging or growing old.
16.What do young sprinting trees signify?
Ans: The ‘sprinting trees’ signify aging or growing old.
17.What do the parting words of the poet and her smile signify?
Ans: Along with the smiling, the parting words of the poetess was ‘see you soon, Amma’. The words and the smile signify the poetess’ fear of losing her old mother because being old her mother may die any time. So she wishes her mother to live long so that she may meet her mother again. By smiling the poetess tries to hide her feeling of sorrow becasue of her mother.
18.Which thought did the speaker putaway? 1
Ans: The poet put away the thought of pain that she felt looking at the face of her old mother.
19. Why has the poet brought in the image of the merry children ‘spilling out of their homes’?
Ans: The poetess has brought in the image of ‘the merry children spilling out of their homes,in the poem for poetic etfect.It makes a contrast to the condition of the poetess’ old mother. She is sad, pale and ash-like because of old age. On the other hand the children are full of life and spirit because they are young.
20.What did the poet see the childrendoing?
Ans: The poet saw the children playing with merriment out of their homes.
Type By: SUMON BORA