The parting words of the poet and her smile signify a complex mix of love, sorrow, and acceptance. While the smile represents an effort to reassure her mother and mask her own fears about aging and loss, the parting words ...

In “My Mother at Sixty-Six,” the mother is compared to the “late winter’s moon” to symbolize her frailty and the inevitable passage of time. The late winter moon, often pale and weak, reflects the mother’s aging and diminishing vitality. This ...

The poet brings in the image of merry children “spilling out of their homes” to evoke a sense of joy, vitality, and the carefree nature of youth. This contrast serves to highlight the poet’s own feelings of sorrow and anxiety ...

In the poem “My Mother at Sixty-Six” by Kamala Das, the poet feels a poignant ache and pain as she reflects on her aging mother. This emotional turmoil is rooted in the fear of loss and the inevitability of death, ...