Partition

• 'she could hear the cries of the people.'- 'cries' -> violence and suffering emphasised through the use of sounds.
• 'she felt it was endless - their noise -' -> is Bhatt suggesting that the problems are endless? (-) -> dashes highlight the ceaseless din caused by the migrating people.
• 'a new sound'- a 'new sound' has been added permanently, India has changed.
• 'But she felt afraid, felt she could not go with her aunt-' -> does the (-) symbolise guilt? -> Bhatt is explaining herself?
• 'so she stood in the garden listening. Even the birds sounded different.'- There is caesura (.) midline it makes the reader stop in the same way her mother stopped to listen to the noise.'
• 'shadows cast by the neem trees brought no consolation'- unable to find comfort in the world around her.
• 'and each day she wished'- still haunted by memories of that, 'each day'- repetition, anaphora -> feeling of guilt.
• 'but how I wish I had/ gone with my aunt.'- (these positioned to the side of the poem) -> important words, positioned away from the rest of the poem. Guilt/regret?
• 'have let a man who knew nothing about geography, divide a country?' -> words are divided in the same way that India has become divided and fragmented.

  It ends in a thought provoking way -> the poet seems to question the validity of the decision which caused the bloodshed of civilians on an unprecedented scale.