How the poem works

Name the device, then say what it does. That is the whole method for appreciating a poem.

Refrain: a line repeated through the poem (she's peerless, let's praise her!). It stresses the main idea and gives a chant-like rhythm.

Metaphor (the book's definition: a comparison without like or as): India is 'this sunny golden land', bright and rich. Personification: giving human qualities to a thing: the Ganga is generous and has grace; India is 'she', a mother who gives everything.

Symbolism: a thing stands for an idea:

• the Himavant: strength and permanence;
• the Ganga: purity and generosity;
• the Upanishads: a spiritual and philosophical legacy;
• warriors and sages: courage and wisdom;
• Brahma-knowledge and the Buddha's dhamma: knowledge and enlightenment;
• the sunny golden land: richness and glory.

Pauses and questions. The dashes in stanza 1 make deliberate pauses: a great thing is named before the dash, and its uniqueness is claimed after it. Rhetorical questions (which other river can match her grace?) expect no answer; they make a point.

Three more words:

• hyperbole: deliberate exaggeration (no equal anywhere on earth; like 'my bag weighs a ton');
• ode: a poem of high praise in grand language;
• allusion: an indirect reference to something well known (the Upanishads, Brahma-knowledge, the Buddha; like calling a maths whizz 'an Einstein').

Mood: pride and admiration. Tone: reverent and celebratory. There is no regular rhyme scheme.