Kamala Das is one of the well-known confessional poets of India. She discussed many controversial topics including women’s sexual life. Madhavikutty is her pen name.
My grandmother’s house is an attempt by the poet to express her feelings for her grandmother’s house. This is an autobiographical poem in which the poet recollects her ancestral house in Kerala.
In the first part of the poem, she used ellipsis to express the depth of her feelings.
This poem is a journey to the nostalgic memories associated with her grandmother’s house. After her grandmother’s death, the house is partially ruined.
She uses simile in the poem to express how detached and frozen her feelings are after her grandmother’s death. She writes, ” my blood turned cold like the moon.”
Poet explains how lifeless her situation was after she moved from her ancestral house. Poet confesses that she never felt warmth in any other relationships.
She feels strangeness in her new relationships. The poet had many emotional conflicts while she wrote this poem. It was hard for the poet to find happiness in her marital relationships.
Readers can easily find the intense craving of the poet to make a journey back to the ancestral house and the warmth of her grandmother.
Once upon a time by Gabriel Okara also narrates the nostalgic feelings of the poet.
My Grandmother’s House by Kamala Das
There is a house now far away where once I received love……. That woman died, The house withdrew into silence, snakes moved Among books, I was then too young To read, and my blood turned cold like the moon How often I think of going There, to peer through blind eyes of windows or Just listen to the frozen air, Or in wild despair, pick an armful of Darkness to bring it here to lie Behind my bedroom door like a brooding Dog…you cannot believe, darling, Can you, that I lived in such a house and Was proud, and loved…. I who have lost My way and beg now at strangers’ doors to Receive love, at least in small change?
