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Line 37
She asks God to be kind to the good-hearted boy.
Her prayer turns gratitude into a blessing. She wants kindness to return to the person who showed it to her.
Kindness returning as blessing and goodwill.
Reverent and grateful.
The reader feels warmth and peace.
“boy” rhymes with “joy” in the next line.
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Answer: She prays that God will be kind to the noble boy. This shows her deep gratitude for his help.
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Answer: Her prayer turns gratitude into a blessing. She wants kindness to return to the person who showed it to her. The ending becomes personal and heartfelt. The line also develops the idea of Kindness returning as blessing and goodwill .
Line 38
She remembers that the helpful boy is also someone’s beloved son.
The ending mirrors the title phrase “somebody’s mother”. Both the old woman and the boy are shown as loved members of families, completing the poem’s message of shared humanity.
Universal humanity, empathy and mutual kindness.
Warm, hopeful and affirming.
The poem ends with comfort and moral satisfaction.
“joy” completes the rhyme with “boy”, giving the poem a neat, positive close.
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Answer: The poem first asks us to see the old woman as somebody’s mother. The ending calls the boy somebody’s son. This parallel shows that both strangers are loved members of families and that kindness should move in both directions.
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Answer: The ending mirrors the title phrase “somebody’s mother”. Both the old woman and the boy are shown as loved members of families, completing the poem’s message of shared humanity. The parallel ending makes the poem’s message universal: every stranger belongs to someone and deserves care. The line also develops the idea of Universal humanity, empathy and mutual kindness .
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Answer: The poem begins by asking us to care for an unknown old woman because she is somebody’s mother. It ends by calling the helper somebody’s son. This parallel shows that every stranger is a person loved by someone and deserving of kindness.
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Answer: She blesses the boy and remembers that he too is someone’s loved child.
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Answer: Stanza 19 is important because it develops the lasting gratitude and universal message at the end of the poem. She blesses the boy and remembers that he too is someone’s loved child. This helps the poem move naturally towards its larger message of empathy, kindness and seeing the human value in another person.
