Senses, refrain and symbol

One sense per stanza: hearing (a hummed tune), smell (shiuli and the temple scent), sight (the blue sky). This is sensory imagery: words that reach your senses.

The refrain: I cannot remember my mother opens every stanza. It stresses his loss, and contrasts with the memories his senses bring. It shows quiet acceptance, not despair.

Sound devices:

• alliteration: 'my mother', 'smell of the shiuli';
• onomatopoeia: a word that sounds like its meaning: hum (like buzz, tick-tock).

Symbols:

• the tune: her love and care;
• the shiuli and temple scent: something pure and sacred;
• the sky: her gaze, vast, calm and always there.

Indoor or outdoor? Ask where the speaker is. In stanza 3 he looks at the sky from his bedroom window, so he is indoors.

Tone: nostalgic and tender. Without rhyme, the poem still moves us through its refrain, rhythm and images.