The Poem Smell Upon The Blackbone Tree Summary

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SUMMARY The poet remembers his mother. He sees her very old now but cannot forget her youthful images since his childhood. He compares her with a blackbone tree because the tree is old and twisted at the moment but was young some time ago. He then compares her hands with the claws of an eagle because like an eagle's claws, her hands and fingers transformed, grew rough and twisted with works that she did for the family. QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS I smell upon this twisted blackbone tree the silk and white petal of my mother's youth. From her earrings three diamonds splash a handful of needles, and I see my mother run back from rain to the crying cradles. 1. What does the poet smell upon the blackbone tree? The poet smells his mother's youthfulness…show more content…
How do you understand the imagery of the 'tasselled tree?' The tasselled tree is a beautiful imagination. It describes the sun light that penetrates down through the cracks of the tree, through the leaves,through the branches and through any gap. 4. Why are the mother's hands compared to the feet of an eagle? The mother was very careful as an eagle. She cared for her babies as an eagle does with its little ones with her hands as dexterous as that of an eagle. 5. How did the mother get one of her fingers crippled? How does this incident suggest a shift in the mother's growth? The mother got one of her fingers crippled while setting trap for mouse. This incident is suggestive of a shift in the mother's ageing as her careful movements made a slip because she had started ageing. Her saris do not cling: they hang, loose feather of a one time wing. My cold parchment tongue licks bark in the mouth when I see her four still sensible fingers slowly flex to pick a grain of rice from the kitchen floor. 1. Why don't the mother's saris cling? The mother's saris used to be clinging to her well shaped figure when she was young but with the passing of time she grew thin, fragile and lost her figure. Now, having lost the ease of grip, the saris hang from her
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