Sarojini Naidu’s Place and Position:
The Koel of South, the nightingale of India, the peacock of Bengal, Sarojini Naidu as a poetess is half Keats, half-Yeats, partly in the tradition of the Indian devotional poetry, partly in the rut of the Pre-Raphaelites and the Georgian poets. Hence it is difficult to categorize her; she is sue generis as a poet. She is fresh, original and appealing. Like Jane Austen, her range is limited. But whatever work in the form of 384 poems she has given us as a poetess is the work of filigree, finished and polished like a work on ivory-piece.
She is an immaculate artist and a perfect craftsman of high quality in the field of prosody. As a poet of Indian sense and sensibility, of the Indian landscape and skyscape to West she will always be remembered with Tagore, Aurobindo and Toru Dutt. She will be remembered much more as a poet of visions—the Vision of Love, the Vision of Faith, the Vision of the Mother, the Vision of patriotism, the Vision of India, etc. What Gokhale said of her conversation, can be said of her poetry too: "You begin with a ripple and end in eternity."
Her Contemplating Beauty in All Its Forms and Expressions:
Though death, misery and sorrow figure in her poems, yet her poems are free from the dirt and squalor of the world. Politics she shuns; satire and exaggerations are absent from her poetry; quibbles and paradoxes do not haunt her. Her imagination is pure and undefiled by worldly desires. She contemplates beauty in all its forms and expressions. She is the supreme poet of beauty. To quote Dr. Iyengar, "She was, above all, sensitive to beauty, the beauty of living things, the beauty of holiness, the beauty of the Buddha’s compassion, the beauty of Brindavan's Lord. She didn't specially seek out the bizarre, the exotic, the exceptional, but her poems lack neither variety nor the flavour of actuality."
Spontaneity and Lyricism:
She sings like a bird. Her poetry is remarkable for its ease and spontaneity. Words flow from her pen as honey from a bee-hive. Brevity, melody, subjectivity, intensity of emotion, condensed thought—these features of lyric poetry are found in her poetry. Like a true romantic poet, she is a lover not only of beauty and of Nature but also of melancholy and gloom. But she is no rebel, although she is fully patriotic. One has to quote only a few lines to illustrate some of her major qualities of head and heart, of Indian sensibility, of spiritual clamour, of melodious tune, of sweet harmony, etc.:
1. “Full are my pitchers and far to carry,
Lone is the way and long.”
2. “I muse among those silent fanes
Whose spacious darkness guards your dust...”
3. “Life is a prism of My light,
And Death the shadow of My face.”
Her lyrics are "short swallow flight of song"; they transport the reader to the realm of rapturous Spring, inner ecstasy and spiritual elation.
Her Themes and Subject-Matter:
Love is her main theme—lokik (this worldly) and parlokik (other worldly) love, union, separation and other moods of love are portrayed by her. Irony, hope, despair, expectation, challenge, ecstasy, etc. are all there. Union and separations—both the aspects of love are portrayed by her. Her poems scattered in all her volumes of poetry about love relate to the ecstasy, fear, anxiety, separation, illusion, unity, entreaty, devotion, etc. The Three songs of Radha, 'A Persian Love Song', 'A Rajput Love Song', 'A Love Song from the North', 'Indian Love Song', etc., are some of her famous love poems.
"Children's poems, nature poems, patriotic poems, poems of love and death, even poems of mystical transcendence, Sarojini Naidu essayed them all; and with her unfailing verbal felicity and rhythmical dexterity, she generally succeeded as well. Seldom did she venture out of her depth; she wasn't interested in wild experimentation; she didn't cudgel herself towards explosive modernity. But she had genuine poetic talent, and she was a wholesome and authentic singer." (K.R. Srinivasa Iyengar). Dr. Dastoor opines that ‘life's colours dazzle her, its beauty intoxicates her and its endless variety excites her.’
Her poems like “The Purdah Nashin," "Corn Grinders," "The Indian Weavers," and "Palanquin Bearers," and others project the suffering and humble life of the poor and oppressed.
As a Romantic Poetess:
Edmund Gosse hoped Sarojini to come up as the Indian Keats. Her love of man, nature, folk-lore dreams, past and future, youth, beauty, glory, magnificence, grand buildings, delight and tears, gods and goddesses, her emotional intensity, her melancholy, her love for beauty, and above all her subjectivity make her a truly romantic poet. She believes in giving away one's love and life in a good cause, and thus incorporates the ideals of true, good and beautiful:
“O Fate, betwixt the grinding stones of Pain,
Tho' You have crushed my life like broken grain,
Lo! I will leaven it with my tears and knead
The bread of Hope to comfort and to feed
The myriad hearts for whom no harvests flow
Save bitter herbs of woe.”
Her Poetic Craftsmanship:
Sampson has praised her mastery of English. She was also a master of rhyme, possessing a sensitive ear for every delicate sound. Her poems have "a prosodical correctness and regularity which seldom—if ever—become merely mechanical." (H.G. Dalway Turnbull). Her metrical felicity charms us, her rhythmic sweep takes the reader off his feet. Sensuousness and love of beauty are two cardinal characteristics of her poetry. Her images are natural and functional; there is no deliberate artistry. "Her songs must be listened to with their gesture and the accompaniment of musical voice. For Mrs. Naidu is above all a singer." (E.E. Speight). Just read a few of her images and bite your finger under your teeth with wonder:
1. “But I have placed you, O miraculous Flower of my desire,
And crushed between my lips the burning petals of your mouth.”
2. "Silver-breasted moonbeam of desire."
3. "laughter-lighted faces."
4. "passionate bosoms aflaming with fire."
5. “Love, I am yours to lie in your breast like a flower,
Or burn like a weed for your sake in the flame of hell.”
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