(i) Where was the poet driving to?
(ii) Why was her mother's face looking like that of a corpse?
(iii) What did the poet notice about her mother?
(i) The poet was driving to the airport.
(ii) Her mother's face was looking like that of a corpse because it was pallid and its natural radiance had desiccated with age.
(iii) The poet noticed her mother's pale and 'ashen' face, lost of all vitality and colour, owing to her old age.
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:
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, … … …
(a) How can the trees sprint?
(b) Why did the poet look at her mother again?
(c) What did she observe?
(d) Identify the figure of speech used in these lines.
(a) When we look out of a moving vehicle, we see the objects moving in the opposite direction. This motion is referred to as 'sprinting' by the poetess, who when looked out of her moving car, felt as if the trees were running.
(b) The poetess looked at her mother again to reassure herself of her mother’s presence.
(c) The poetess observed that her mother looked pale and weak.
(d) The poetic device that is used in these lines is personification and simile.
What was the poet's childhood fear?
As a child, the poet feared losing her mother or her company.
Why are the young trees described as sprinting?
The young trees are personified in the poem. They seem to be running in the opposite direction when seen through the window of the moving car. The movement is juxtaposed with the expression on the mother’s face i.e. ashen like a corpse. The movement of the children and the trees is in stark contrast with the stillness associated with the mother.
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:
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, _ _ _
(a) How can the trees sprint?
(b) Why did the poet look at her mother again?
(c) What did she observe?
(d) Identify the figure of speech used in these lines.
(a) The poetess was looking out of the car while it was moving. It seemed to her that the objects were moving in the opposite direction. Also, it looked like as if the trees were running. So, she said that the trees sprint.
(b) The poetess looked at her mother again to assure her mother that she would see her again.
(c) The poetess observed that her mother looked pale and weak.
(d) The poetic device that is used in these lines is personification and simile.
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