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Short-answer literature questions, about 40–50 words each.
1. Why does the poet repeat the line ‘I cannot remember my mother’ in the poem?
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How to answer:
Name the device (refrain), say what it shows (early loss), then link it to the memories that follow.
Answer:
The poet repeats this line as a
refrain
at the start of every stanza. It shows that he lost his mother very early and has no clear picture of her. At the same time, the repetition gently leads into each new memory - a tune, a scent, a gaze - proving that even without a clear memory, her presence is still felt.
2. How does the poet remember his mother in the first stanza?
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How to answer:
Say which sense (sound), then give the exact image - the hummed lullaby at the cradle.
Answer:
In the first stanza the poet remembers his mother through
sound
. While he is playing, a tune seems to hover over his playthings - the tune of a song his mother used to hum while rocking his cradle. So his earliest memory of her comes back to him as a soft, half-remembered lullaby.
3. What memory does the smell of shiuli flowers bring back to the poet?
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How to answer:
Name the sense (smell), then connect shiuli + temple scent = ‘scent of my mother’.
Answer:
In the second stanza, the
smell
of shiuli flowers in the early autumn morning brings back the poet’s mother. That fragrance mixes in his mind with the scent of the morning prayer in the temple, and together they come to him as ‘the scent of my mother’. So a smell from nature carries her memory.
4. How does the poet feel his mother’s presence in the third stanza?
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How to answer:
Name the sense (sight), then give the image - the still gaze spread across the wide blue sky.
Answer:
In the third stanza the poet feels his mother through
sight
. When he looks out of his bedroom window into the blue of the distant sky, he feels that the stillness of his mother’s gaze on his face has spread all over the sky. The calm, wide sky becomes an image of her loving, watchful presence.
5. What is the role of nature in this poem?
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How to answer:
State the idea (nature carries memory), then give the three natural triggers as proof.
Answer:
Nature is the bridge between the poet and his lost mother. A hummed tune, the smell of shiuli flowers in autumn, and the stillness of the wide blue sky each bring her memory alive. Because the poet cannot remember her directly, ordinary natural things become the carriers of her love and presence.
6. Why does the poet say he ‘cannot remember’ his mother, yet still describes her so vividly?
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How to answer:
Resolve the apparent contradiction: no direct memory, but sensory triggers keep her present.
Answer:
The poet lost his mother when he was very young, so he has no clear, direct memory of her face or voice. Yet she returns to him through the senses - a tune, a scent, a gaze. This shows that love and presence can live on in memory through small natural signs, even when a clear picture is missing.
7. SHORT-3 Explain how repetition strengthens the feeling of loss in the poem.
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How to answer:
Mention the repeated line, then explain its emotional effect in two or three sentences.
Answer:
The repeated line
“I cannot remember my mother”
makes the poet’s loss feel deeper each time. It shows that he has no clear picture of his mother, yet her presence returns through sound, smell and sight. The repetition creates gentle sadness and keeps the mother at the centre of the poem.
8. COM-1 How is the mother portrayed through sensory memories?
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How to answer:
Use three senses: sound, smell and sight. Link each sense to one quality of the mother.
Answer:
The mother is portrayed as gentle, loving and peaceful. The tune shows her care when she rocked the child’s cradle. The shiuli flowers and the calm sky show that her love feels pure and wide even after she is gone.
9. COM-3 How does the poem place absence and presence side by side?
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How to answer:
State the contrast first: he cannot remember her face, but he feels her presence.
Answer:
The poet begins by saying that he cannot remember his mother, so there is absence. But each stanza also shows her presence through a tune, a flower smell and the sky. This contrast makes the poem tender because the mother is physically absent but emotionally present.
