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  1. Lucifer better to reign in hell than to serve in heaven

    The first portrait is depicted as "old" in the text, so it is likely to be one of the women's grandmothers. "The clay mother-in-law" is a folktale from the Yoruba people of Nigeria. In the tale, a woman's grandmother is turned into clay by her mother-in-law. The second portrait is depicted as "youngRead more

    1. The first portrait is depicted as “old” in the text, so it is likely to be one of the women’s grandmothers. “The clay mother-in-law” is a folktale from the Yoruba people of Nigeria. In the tale, a woman’s grandmother is turned into clay by her mother-in-law.
    2. The second portrait is depicted as “young”, so it is likely to be the mother-in-law who turned her mother into clay.
    3. The third portrait is a middle-aged woman.

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  1. Lucifer better to reign in hell than to serve in heaven

    The poem Of Mother, Among Other Things by A.K. Ramanujan is a lyric poem divided into three stanzas. Each stanza has different number of lines. In the first stanza, the poet memorises the youth of his mother, in the second stanza, her middle age and in the final stanza, her old age. There is no rhymRead more

    The poem Of Mother, Among Other Things by A.K. Ramanujan is a lyric poem divided into three stanzas. Each stanza has different number of lines. In the first stanza, the poet memorises the youth of his mother, in the second stanza, her middle age and in the final stanza, her old age.

    There is no rhyme scheme in the poem. It is written in open verse. There are some poetic devices used in the poem like metaphor, personification, enjambment, symbolism, alliteration  etc.

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  1. Lucifer better to reign in hell than to serve in heaven

    Following literary devices have been used in the poem Of Mothers, Among Other Things: Metaphor: It is a literary device which represents direct comparison between two things, without the use of as or like. In the poem, we find ample of examples of metaphor. e.g. the poet uses the phrase "twisted blaRead more

    Following literary devices have been used in the poem Of Mothers, Among Other Things:

    1. Metaphor: It is a literary device which represents direct comparison between two things, without the use of as or like. In the poem, we find ample of examples of metaphor. e.g. the poet uses the phrase “twisted blackbone tree” for the old age of his mother and “silk & whitepetal” for her youth. Next he calls the rays of sun as needles. Crying cradles symbolise children. In the next stanza, the poet compares his mother with the eagle (because of her sacrificial nature.
    2. Enjambment: It is the  continuation of a sentence or clause across a line break. In the poem, we find the continuation of lines in the stanzas.
    3. Alliteration: It is the repetition of  initial consonant sounds in two or more neighbouring words or syllables. e.g. “twisted blackbone tree”, “my mother”, “crying cradles”, “the tree tasseled”, “her hands”, “I see her four still sensible fingers slowly flex”.
    4. Symbolism: The poem Of Mother, Among Other Things” is symbolic in nature. In this poem, the poet compares different stages of his mother to different things in order to show her youth, middle age and old age.

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  1. Lucifer better to reign in hell than to serve in heaven

    In the poem, Of Mothers, Among Other Things, poet's mother is described as sacrificing. In the very first line of the poem, the poet describes her as twisted blackbone tree because she sacrificed her youth for her children. Seeing her children cry, she would use to run in the rain for them. The poetRead more

    In the poem, Of Mothers, Among Other Things, poet’s mother is described as sacrificing. In the very first line of the poem, the poet describes her as twisted blackbone tree because she sacrificed her youth for her children.

    Seeing her children cry, she would use to run in the rain for them. The poet describes her hands like eagle’s feet as they would go through thicks and things for serving the children. Once the poet’s mother stepped on a mouse trapped and one of her feet was crippled.

    So, we find that the mother of poet had sacrificing nature. She never did anything for her own pleasure. She gave up her comforts for the sake of her children. The poet seems to be regretting because he might have not understood her.

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  1. Lucifer better to reign in hell than to serve in heaven

    The poet makes the use of images and symbolism to describe the past and the present of his mother. He throws light on her youth, middle and old age. In the first stanza, he sees his mother who is bent like twisted blackbone tree and memorises her youth when she was soft and beautiful. Note that theRead more

    The poet makes the use of images and symbolism to describe the past and the present of his mother. He throws light on her youth, middle and old age.

    In the first stanza, he sees his mother who is bent like twisted blackbone tree and memorises her youth when she was soft and beautiful. Note that the poet uses he image of “twisted blackbone tree” to describe her old age and “silk and whitepetal” to describe her youth. Both the images depict the opposite appearance of his mother.

    In the second stanza, he uses the images like “rags of tree” and “eagle” to describe her sacrificing nature. According to him, his mother sacrificed her youth & her middle age for the sake of her children. Like the eagle, she faced all the hardships to make her children happy.

    In the final stanza, the poet tells us that her hand has four fingers which depict that one of her fingers was cut while doing some household work. Hence we see that the whole poem is a comparison of poet’s mother’s past and present (and the reason behind her present condition).

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  1. Lucifer better to reign in hell than to serve in heaven

    The poet compares his mother will different things. First, he compares her with a twisted blackbone tree because she is old and bent like the tree. Next, he compares her with rags of the tree because the body of his mother is quite weak as she has suffered a lot of hardships. Next, he compares her hRead more

    The poet compares his mother will different things.

    1. First, he compares her with a twisted blackbone tree because she is old and bent like the tree.
    2. Next, he compares her with rags of the tree because the body of his mother is quite weak as she has suffered a lot of hardships.
    3. Next, he compares her hand with the wet eagle’s two black-pink crinkled feet as like the eagle, she used to put her life in danger for the sake of her children.
    4. Next, he compares her foot with the claw of eagle
    5. Again, he compares her old and weak hands with the weak wings of the eagle.

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  1. Lucifer better to reign in hell than to serve in heaven

    Yes, the poem is a tribute to the self-sacrificing nature of poet's mother in particular and all the mothers in general. Using ample of images, the poet describes the three phases of his mother's life - youth, middle age and old age. In every phase, poet's mother sacrificed herself. First, she sacriRead more

    Yes, the poem is a tribute to the self-sacrificing nature of poet’s mother in particular and all the mothers in general. Using ample of images, the poet describes the three phases of his mother’s life – youth, middle age and old age.

    In every phase, poet’s mother sacrificed herself. First, she sacrificed her youth, then her foot and finally her finger. Her motherhood was so bold that even worst kind of troubles and hardships could not stop her. She become physically weak but her spirit always remained high.

    The last two lines depict this well. In spite of her old age, she struggles to do all the household work. Hence the poem is a tribute to the sacrificing nature of his mother.

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