UNIT ONE : LOVE AND REMINISCENCE
GRANDMOTHER
ENGLISH | THE HERITAGE OF WORDS
Ray Young Bear
American Indian poet Ray Young Bear in his poem Grandmother describes his grandmother using similes, metamorphose and sense verbs. Depicting (pointing) a portrait (image) of grandmother of his tribe. The poet also reveals (show) the socio-economic status of Mesquaki tribe which he belongs.
The grandmother of the poet is the source of love and inspiration for him. As the poet was closely associated with his grandmother, her image is evergreen in fresh in his mind if the poet saw his grandmother from a far distance he would instantly recognize her because of her purple scarf around her neck and plastic shopping bag in her hand. If the grandmother touch his hand were of his grandmother only because they would feel warm and damp with smell of root. This indicates poet’s poor financial state which made the grandmother work in the field despite her old age. If the poet heard a voice coming from the rock, he would immediately know that the voice was of his grandmother as it would blow inside him like a light and warm on stirring a dying fire at night. The words would be inspiring for him as they would activate his inner feeling making the loving memory of his grandmother evergreen and very fresh.
The poet is successful in drawing the picture of his grandmother which is appealing to our senses. Deviating (going away) from usual grammatical rules and rules of the poetry, the poet has used small letters in the entire poem to draw the attention to the readers. The poet also reveals the socio-economic status of ‘Mesquaki’ tribe to which he belongs.
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