How the poem works

A ballad. This poem is a narrative poem or ballad: a poem that tells a story in verse. Ballads are one of the oldest ways of telling stories: sung, passed on, and easy to remember.

Rhyme scheme: ABCB. Only the second and fourth lines of each stanza rhyme:

'Go and gather wild beans, Gopi, / Go and fetch some rice. / Go and pluck the mangoes / And bring home something nice.'

ABCB gives a light, flowing rhythm that carries the story forward, which suits a long tale.

The tone changes three times:

• 1. Playful and innocent at the start: Gopi drawing in the sand, grinning at her empty hands;
• 2. Tense and full of suspense when the Zamindar comes: he roars and stamps, she waits on a cold mud floor, the men gallop after her;
• 3. Triumphant and celebratory at the end: she escapes, he is beaten, and the village celebrates.

Imagery lets you see every scene: a twig in the sand, a bowl of khichdi, a cold mud floor, a strong bold horse, a deep fast river, a bright courtyard.

Symbols (things that stand for ideas):

• the magic brush = the power of art and imagination to change the world;
• the grand fortress = greed and the hunger for wealth;
• the river and the beast = barriers that protect Gopi from the Zamindar. They are not weapons: she never attacks.

Even the repetition 'and you and you!' works hard: she points at each man in turn, until every one of them runs.