“Elephant Riding” is a poem by New Zealander Jan Kemp. Kemp has traveled to many places in the world, and her work is often a snapshot in words of a particular place and time.

This work describes a very specific experience she had while in New Delhi, India. It is fairly straightforward. In order to identify themes that are expressed in this short poem, let us begin with a look at the tone. A writer’s tone conveys an attitude. Sometimes tone can be subtly expressed, so one has to be on the lookout for it. Once one identifies the tone of a work, it becomes easier to unravel the stylistic or literary devices at work.

Kemp is surprised and delighted by the experience of riding an elephant. She explains how she manages to climb aboard the enormous creature, and she expresses the desire to want to know its language. Her tone is one of admiration for the elephant, and one theme that her tone suggests is that of the connection between humans and animals.

Stylistic or literary devices are specific techniques that writers use to shape and color their writing in order to convey meaning. You will find similes and metaphors in this poem. Kemp writes that the elephant “moves like a ship” and that “her fly-bitten ears grey sails flap." Recall that similes stand out by the use of the word “like." Metaphors also create comparisons but without the use of the word "like."

The poet refers to the elephant she as “my ship of the jungle.” This is a good example of a literary device called an “epithet.” Epithets are descriptive phrases (or sometimes compound adjectives) that provide an evocative image of a particular person, place, or thing.