Sarojini Naidu   February 13, 1879 –  March 2, 1949 Indian poet and freedom fighter

Indian Dancers Eyes  ravished with rapture, celestially panting,  what passionate bosoms aflaming with fire Drink deep of the hush of the hyacinth heavens that glimmer around them in fountains of light; O wild and entrancing the strain of keen music that cleaveth the stars like a wail of desire, And beautiful dancers with houri-like faces bewitch the voluptuous watches of night. The scents of red roses and sandalwood flutter  and die in the maze of their gem-tangled hair, And smiles are entwining like magical serpents the poppies of lips that are opiate-sweet; Their glittering garments of purple are burning like tremulous dawns in the quivering air, And exquisite, subtle and slow are the tinkle and tread of their rhythmical, slumber-soft feet. Now silent, now singing and swaying and swinging,  like blossoms that bend to the breezes or showers, Now wantonly winding, they flash, now they falter,  and, lingering, languish in radiant choir; Their jewel-girt arms and warm, wavering, lily-long  fingers enchant through melodious hours, Eyes ravished with rapture, celestially panting,  what passionate bosoms aflaming with fire! In The Forest HERE, O my heart, let us burn the dear dreams that are dead, Here in this wood let us fashion a funeral pyre Of fallen white petals and leaves that are mellow and red, Here let us burn them in noon's flaming torches of fire. We are weary, my heart, we are weary, so long we have borne The heavy loved burden of dreams that are dead, let us rest, Let us scatter their ashes away, for a while let us mourn; We will rest, O my heart, till the shadows are gray in the west. But soon we must rise, O my heart, we must wander again Into the war of the world and the strife of the throng; Let us rise, O my heart, let us gather the dreams that remain, We will conquer the sorrow of life with the sorrow of song. To India O YOUNG through all thy immemorial years! Rise, Mother, rise, regenerate from thy gloom, And, like a bride high-mated with the spheres, Beget new glories from thine ageless womb! The nations that in fettered darkness weep Crave thee to lead them where great mornings break . . . . Mother, O Mother, wherefore dost thou sleep? Arise and answer for thy children's sake! Thy Future calls thee with a manifold sound To crescent honours, splendours, victories vast; Waken, O slumbering Mother and be crowned, Who once wert empress of the sovereign Past. In Salutation To The Eternal Peace Men say the world is full of fear and hate, And all life's ripening harvest-fields await The restless sickle of relentless fate. But I, sweet Soul, rejoice that I was born, When from the climbing terraces of corn I watch the golden orioles of Thy morn. What care I for the world's desire and pride, Who know the silver wings that gleam and glide, The homing pigeons of Thine eventide? What care I for the world's loud weariness, Who dream in twilight granaries Thou dost bless With delicate sheaves of mellow silences? Say, shall I heed dull presages of doom, Or dread the rumoured loneliness and gloom, The mute and mythic terror of the tomb? For my glad heart is drunk and drenched with Thee, O inmost wind of living ecstasy! O intimate essence of eternity! A Love Song From The North Tell me no more of thy love, papeeha, Wouldst thou recall to my heart, papeeha, Dreams of delight that are gone, When swift to my side came the feet of my lover With stars of the dusk and the dawn? I see the soft wings of the clouds on the river, And jewelled with raindrops the mango-leaves quiver, And tender boughs flower on the plain….. But what is their beauty to me, papeeha, Beauty of blossom and shower, papeeha, That brings not my lover again? Tell me no more of thy love, papeeha, Wouldst thou revive in my heart, papeeha Grief for the joy that is gone? I hear the bright peacock in glimmering woodlands Cry to its mate in the dawn; I hear the black koel's slow, tremulous wooing, And sweet in the gardens the calling and cooing Of passionate bulbul and dove…. But what is their music to me, papeeha Songs of their laughter and love, papeeha, To me, forsaken of love? My Dead Dream HAVE YOU found me, at last, O my Dream? Seven eons ago You died and I buried you deep under forests of snow. Why have you come hither? Who bade you awake from your sleep And track me beyond the cerulean foam of the deep? Would you tear from my lintels these sacred green garlands of leaves? Would you scare the white, nested, wild pigeons of joy from my eaves? Would you touch and defile with dead fingers the robes of my priest? Would you weave your dim moan with the chantings of love at my feast? Go back to your grave, O my Dream, under forests of snow, Where a heart-riven child hid you once, seven eons ago. Who bade you arise from your darkness? I bid you depart! Profane not the shrines I have raised in the clefts of my heart. Transience Nay, do not grieve tho' life be full of sadness, Dawn will not veil her splendour for your grief, Nor spring deny their bright, appointed beauty To lotus blossom and ashoka leaf. Nay, do not pine, tho' life be dark with trouble, Time will not pause or tarry on his way; To-day that seems so long, so strange, so bitter, Will soon be some forgotten yesterday. Nay, do not weep; new hopes, new dreams, new faces, The unspent joy of all the unborn years, Will prove your heart a traitor to its sorrow, And make your eyes unfaithful to their tears. Suttee LAMP of my life, the lips of Death Hath blown thee out with their sudden breath; Naught shall revive thy vanished spark . . . Love, must I dwell in the living dark? Tree of my life, Death's cruel foot Hath crushed thee down to thy hidden root; Nought shall restore thy glory fled . . . Shall the blossom live when the tree is dead? Life of my life, Death's bitter sword Hath severed us like a broken word, Rent us in twain who are but one . . Shall the flesh survive when the soul is gone? To Youth O YOUTH, sweet comrade Youth, wouldst thou be gone? Long have we dwelt together, thou and I; Together drunk of many an alien dawn, And plucked the fruit of many an alien sky. Ah, fickle friend, must I, who yesterday Dreamed forwards to long, undimmed ecstasy, Henceforward dream, because thou wilt not stay, Backward to transient pleasure and to thee? I give thee back thy false, ephemeral vow; But, O beloved comrade, ere we part, Upon my mournful eyelids and my brow Kiss me who hold thine image in my heart. The Queen's Rival QUEEN GULNAAR sat on her ivory bed, Around her countless treasures were spread; Her chamber walls were richly inlaid With agate, porphory, onyx and jade; The tissues that veiled her delicate breast, Glowed with the hues of a lapwing's crest; But still she gazed in her mirror and sighed "O King, my heart is unsatisfied." King Feroz bent from his ebony seat: "Is thy least desire unfulfilled, O Sweet? "Let thy mouth speak and my life be spent To clear the sky of thy discontent." "I tire of my beauty, I tire of this Empty splendour and shadowless bliss; "With none to envy and none gainsay, No savour or salt hath my dream or day." Queen Gulnaar sighed like a murmuring rose: "Give me a rival, O King Feroz." II King Feroz spoke to his Chief Vizier: "Lo! ere to-morrow's dawn be here, "Send forth my messengers over the sea, To seek seven beautiful brides for me; "Radiant of feature and regal of mien, Seven handmaids meet for the Persian Queen." . . . . . Seven new moon tides at the Vesper call, King Feroz led to Queen Gulnaar's hall A young queen eyed like the morning star: "I bring thee a rival, O Queen Gulnaar." But still she gazed in her mirror and sighed: "O King, my heart is unsatisfied." Seven queens shone round her ivory bed, Like seven soft gems on a silken thread, Like seven fair lamps in a royal tower, Like seven bright petals of Beauty's flower Queen Gulnaar sighed like a murmuring rose "Where is my rival, O King Feroz?" III When spring winds wakened the mountain floods, And kindled the flame of the tulip buds, When bees grew loud and the days grew long, And the peach groves thrilled to the oriole's song, Queen Gulnaar sat on her ivory bed, Decking with jewels her exquisite head; And still she gazed in her mirror and sighed: "O King, my heart is unsatisfied." Queen Gulnaar's daughter two spring times old, In blue robes bordered with tassels of gold, Ran to her knee like a wildwood fay, And plucked from her hand the mirror away. Quickly she set on her own light curls Her mother's fillet with fringes of pearls; Quickly she turned with a child's caprice And pressed on the mirror a swift, glad kiss. Queen Gulnaar laughed like a tremulous rose: "Here is my rival, O King Feroz." The Snake Charmer WHITHER dost thou hide from the magic of my flute-call? In what moonlight-tangled meshes of perfume, Where the clustering keovas guard the squirrel's slumber, Where the deep woods glimmer with the jasmine's bloom? I'll feed thee, O beloved, on milk and wild red honey, I'll bear thee in a basket of rushes, green and white, To a palace-bower where golden-vested maidens Thread with mellow laughter the petals of delight. Whither dost thou loiter, by what murmuring hollows, Where oleanders scatter their ambrosial fire? Come, thou subtle bride of my mellifluous wooing, Come, thou silver-breasted moonbeam of de- sire! Ecstasy Cover mine eyes, O my Love! Mine eyes that are weary of bliss As of light that is poignant and strong O silence my lips with a kiss, My lips that are weary of song! Shelter my soul, O my love! My soul is bent low with the pain And the burden of love, like the grace Of a flower that is smitten with rain: O shelter my soul from thy face! Leili THE serpents are asleep among the poppies, The fireflies light the soundless panther's way To tangled paths where shy gazelles are straying, And parrot-plumes outshine the dying day. O soft! the lotus-buds upon the stream Are stirring like sweet maidens when they dream. A caste-mark on the azure brows of Heaven, The golden moon burns sacred, solemn, bright The winds are dancing in the forest-temple, And swooning at the holy feet of Night. Hush! in the silence mystic voices sing And make the gods their incense-offering. Corn Grinders O little mouse, why dost thou cry While merry stars laugh in the sky? Alas! alas! my lord is dead! Ah, who will ease my bitter pain? He went to seek a millet-grain In the rich farmer's granary shed; They caught him in a baited snare, And slew my lover unaware: Alas! alas! my lord is dead. O little deer, why dost thou moan, Hid in thy forest-bower alone? Alas! alas! my lord is dead! Ah! who will quiet my lament? At fall of eventide he went To drink beside the river-head; A waiting hunter threw his dart, And struck my lover through the heart. Alas! alas! my lord is dead. O little bride, why dost thou weep With all the happy world asleep? Alas! alas! my lord is dead! Ah, who will stay these hungry tears, Or still the want of famished years, And crown with love my marriage-bed? My soul burns with the quenchless fire That lit my lover's funeral pyre: Alas! alas! my lord is dead. In Praise Of Henna A KOKILA called from a henna-spray: Lira! liree! Lira! liree! Hasten, maidens, hasten away To gather the leaves of the henna-tree. Send your pitchers afloat on the tide, Gather the leaves ere the dawn be old, Grind them in mortars of amber and gold, The fresh green leaves of the henna-tree. A kokila called from a henna-spray: Lira! liree! Lira! liree! Hasten maidens, hasten away To gather the leaves of the henna-tree. The tilka's red for the brow of a bride, And betel-nut's red for lips that are sweet; But, for lily-like fingers and feet, The red, the red of the henna-tree. Past And Future The new hath come and now the old retires: And so the past becomes a mountain-cell, Where lone, apart, old hermit-memories dwell In consecrated calm, forgotten yet Of the keen heart that hastens to forget Old longings in fulfilling new desires. And now the Soul stands in a vague, intense Expectancy and anguish of suspense, On the dim chamber-threshold . . . lo! he sees Like a strange, fated bride as yet unknown, His timid future shrinking there alone, Beneath her marriage-veil of mysteries.

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