I Cannot Remember My Mother - English Literature

Summary
I Cannot Remember my Mother' is a gentle nostalgic poem written by 'Guru' Rabindranath Tagore. Tagore is one of the greatest poets of modern India (1861 - 1941). The national anthem of India was composed by him. His song 'Amaar Sonar Bangla' is the national anthem of Bangladesh. He has composed more than 2000 songs and a collection of his stories poems and essays etc comes to 26 volumes. He wrote in Bengali. His works have now been translated into many languages. He started the experimental school in Shantiniketan. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in literature for his collection of poems 'Gitanjali'.

The parents of Rabindranath were very wealthy and had an active social life. Rabindranath had many brothers and sisters to take care of him. His mother passed away when he was still young. In this poem, he expresses his inability to actually recall the face or the features of his mother. But often a smell or a tune triggered off in him happy moments that he shared with his mother.

When he looks at his playthings he seems to be able to hear a tune. Perhaps his mother often sang the same song as she rocked him to sleep in the cradle. He recalls this tune as he touches his old toys.

In autumn, the Shiuli tree in Bengal blossoms into fragrant tiny flowers which are used for worship. His mother would string the flowers for the morning service at the temple. So the powerful fragrance of the Shiuli flowers would trigger off happy memories of his mother.

He can recall the quiet serene gaze of his mother when he looks at the vast expanse of the clear blue sky.

The simple lines of the poem eloquently reveal the deep seated emotional bonding that the poet had with his mother. It makes us realise the great impact her quiet dignity had on the poet even at that tender age, for the poet recalls experiences of his infancy and pre - school days.

Sample Q's and A's

Question (1): What did the mother usually do while rocking his cradle?

Answer: Sing a particular song.

Question (2): What did his playthings remind him of?

Answer: The tune of a song that his mother often sang.

Question (3): What memories does autumn bring on?

Answer: The Shiuli flowers bloom and spread their fragrance in autumn. This reminds him of his mothers visits to the temple with the flowers.

Question (4): Why does the sky remind him of his mother?

Answer: Perhaps as a child he was told that his mother was above in the heavens. The calmness of the blue sky reminds him of his mother's serene gaze.

Question (5): Read the given extract and answer the questions.

'A tune seems to hover over my playthings'.

a) What does 'hover' mean?

b) What tune does he recall?

Answer: a) The fly around in the same place.

b) The tune of the song that his mother used to hum while rocking his cradle.

Question (6): Read the given extract and answer the questions.

"I cannot remember my mother".

a) Why can he not remember her?

b) He says this line repeatedly, but often remembers her. Explain.

Answer: a) She died at a young age.

b) It is clear that certain smells, sounds and associations make him often think of her but he cannot actually recall her face.

Question (7): Read the given extract and answer the questions.

"Shiuli flowers floats in the air".

a) Mention any 3 aspects of the Shiuli flowers.

Answer: a) it has a powerful fragrance

b) it blossoms in August

c) it is used in worship

Question (8): Read the following extracts and answer the questions that follow:

I cannot remember my mother
Only sometimes in the midst of my play
A tune seems to hover over my playthings
The tune of some song that she used to
hum while rocking my cradle

a) What is the poet doing when he remembers his mother?

b) What is it that reminds the poet of his mother?

c) When did the poet's mother hum the song?

Answer: a) The poet remembers his mother when he is playing with his playthings.

b) When the poet plays with his toys, he can hear a tune hovering over his playthings, a tune that his mother used to hum when she used to rock his cradle.

c) The poet's mother hummed that song when he was an infant in the cradle and she need to rock his cradle probably trying to put him to sleep.

Question (9): I cannot remember my mother
But when in the early autumn morning
The smell of shiuli flowers floats in the air
The scent of the morning service in the temple come to me as the scent of my mother.

a) What is it that occurs in autumn that reminds the poet of his mother?

b) What did the mother do with the Shiuli flowers?

Answer: a) The smell of Shiuli flowers floats in the air in the autumn.

b) In autumn, when the Shiuli flowers were abundant, the poet's mother offered them at the temple where she used to go to pray.

Question (10): I Cannot remember my mother
Only when from my bedroom window I send
My eyes into the blue of the distant sky,
I feel that the stillness of my mother's gaze on my face
has spread all over the sky.

a) Why do you think the poet looks out into the distant sky?

b) Explain "I feel that the stillness of my mother's gaze on my face has spread all over the sky"

Answer: a) The poet remembers his mother. He looks out into the distant sky to find her there. It is said that humans - after death go up to heaven - after death and heaven, it is believed is up in the sky. So he looks up to the sky to see if she is there.

b) The memory of the gaze of the mother gets reflected in the blue sky above. When the poet looks up into the sky, he feels his mother's gaze gets reflected into it, looking at him.

Question (11): How does the poet bring out the tender feelings of the child towards his mother who is now no more?

Answer: "I cannot remember my mother" in an emotional expression of a child's memory of his mother who is dead. The child misses his mother and starts reminiscing about her as he play with his toys. He recollects the tune she used to hum when she used to rock his cradle. The sweet smell of the Shiuli flowers which she used to offer in the temple during the Autumn season and which now pomades the air also brings back tender feelings and thoughts of his mother. When he looks up in the sky, he feels he can see her gaze spreading across the entire sky which means that she is up in heaven and has become an integral part of this universe.

Thus, when the child looks at things, his heart is filled with tenderness at the memory of his mother.