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The whole poem at a glance - each stanza and the one sense through which the poet feels his mother, leading to the poem’s central message.
I Cannot Remember My Mother - Rabindranath Tagore
A poem of memory and a mother’s love · 3 stanzas
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Stanza 1: Memory through SOUND
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A tune while playing
while he plays, a tune floats over his toys · it is the lullaby she hummed to rock his cradle
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Stanza 2: Memory through SMELL
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The shiuli flowers and the temple
on an autumn morning, the smell of shiuli flowers and temple prayers feels like his mother
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Stanza 3: Memory through SIGHT
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The wide blue sky
looking at the distant sky, he feels his mother’s calm gaze spread all over it
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Central Message: A mother’s love is never lost - it stays in everything around us.
Even without a clear memory of her face, the poet feels his mother everywhere.
