Student Question
What is the significance of the last stanza of "Grandmother" by Sitakanth Mahapatra?
"That day I realized for the first time
How every weeping act in this life
Is performed in a hidden way, secretly."
Quick answer:
The last stanza of Sitakanth Mahapatra's "Grandmother" highlights the hidden nature of grief, revealing the speaker's deep emotional impact from the grandmother's death. While the poem's earlier stanzas appear detached, the final lines underscore the grandmother's significance to the speaker, providing a poignant glimpse into the speaker's sorrow. This emotional revelation contrasts with the restrained tone of the rest of the poem, adding depth and meaning to the speaker's personal loss.
The poem "Grandmother" by Sitakanth Mahaptra movingly looks the psychology of grief, especially the acceptance and bearing of sorrow. Even though the tone of most of the poem is very restrained and detached, the final stanza allows the reader a more personal view of the speaker's grief at the death of the grandmother. This final moment in the poem, the speaker's realization of "how every weeping act in this life is performed in a hidden way, secretly," reinforces the significance of the grandmother to the speaker.
The earlier stanzas in the poem were so devoid of any emotion, making it seem as though the speaker did not care very much for the grandmother; only at the end does the reader see the first glimmer of emotion and understand that the speaker has been affected deeply by the loss of the grandmother. The final stanza, because of its emotional content, makes the previous stanzas and imagery all the more meaningful and ends the poem in a powerful, heart-breaking way.
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