Fill in the following table to show yourappreciation of the poem

1) Setting
2) Tone and mood
3) Theme

1) Setting

The poem begins with the poet’s mother beside her and ends at a parting, with the hope and desire of meeting soon again. It is a Friday and the poet is driving back to Cochin. The drive shows a comparison between adult life and old age that Kamala Das finds her mother at the ripe age of sixty six, while accompanying her on a thought-provoking drive.

2) Tone and mood

The tone of this poem is predominantly pensive and sorrowful.The underlying tone of nostalgia is instilled into this poem right at the outset with the words. The poet’s emotions are of insecure filial love and the consequent coping mechanism of processing such troubling emotions she employs that is of losing her old mother.

3) Theme

The poem is about the thought process of first denying her mother’s ageing towards death and then her gentle acceptance of the same. There are contrasting references to both vitality (young trees and children) and impending death (corpse, wan and pale late winter moon), shedding light on the conflicts we go through while coming to terms with the fact that all springs eventually turn into winter and youth steadily progresses towards old age.