Analysis of A Rajput Love Song

Sarojini Naidu 1879 (Hyderabad) – 1949 (Lucknow)



(Parvati at her lattice)
O Love! were you a basil-wreath to twine
among my tresses,
A jewelled clasp of shining gold to bind around my sleeve,
O Love! were you the keora's soul that haunts
my silken raiment,
A bright, vermilion tassel in the girdles that I weave;

O Love! were you the scented fan
that lies upon my pillow,
A sandal lute, or silver lamp that burns before my shrine,
Why should I fear the jealous dawn
that spreads with cruel laughter,
Sad veils of separation between your face and mine?

Haste, O wild-bee hours, to the gardens of the sun set!
Fly, wild-parrot day, to the orchards of the west!
Come, O tender night, with your sweet,
consoling darkness,
And bring me my Beloved to the shelter of my breast!

(Amar Singh in the saddle)
O Love! were you the hooded hawk upon my hand
that flutters,
Its collar-band of gleaming bells atinkle as I ride,
O Love! were you a turban-spray or
floating heron-feather,
The radiant, swift, unconquered sword
that swingeth at my side;

O Love! were you a shield against the
arrows of my foemen,
An amulet of jade against the perils of the way,
How should the drum-beats of the dawn
divide me from your bosom,
Or the union of the midnight be ended with the day?

Haste, O wild-deer hours, to the meadows of the sunset!
Fly, wild stallion day, to the pastures of the west!
Come, O tranquil night, with your soft,
consenting darkness,
And bear me to the fragrance of my Beloved's breast!


Scheme ABXCXDC XXBEFB DDDAD XDXDXFDD XBXEXD DDDAD
Poetic Form
Metre 11010 1101010111 01110 0111101110111 110101111 1101 0101010001111 11010101 1101110 01011101110111 11110101 1111010 111010011101 11111010101011 111011010101 11101111 01010 0111011010111 0110010 110101010111 110 110111011111 110101011 101010 0100111 11111 110101010 10111 11001101010101 11011101 0111110 1010101110101 111110101101 111011010101 11101111 01010 01110101111
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 1,416
Words 263
Sentences 15
Stanzas 6
Stanza Lengths 7, 6, 5, 8, 6, 5
Lines Amount 37
Letters per line (avg) 30
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 185
Words per stanza (avg) 44
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 14, 2023

1:19 min read
110

Sarojini Naidu

Sarojini Naidu, born as Sarojini Chattopadhyay also known by the sobriquet as The Nightingale of India, was a child prodigy, Indian independence activist and poet. Naidu served as the first governor of the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh from 1947 to 1949; the first woman to become the governor of an Indian state. She was the second woman to become the president of the Indian National Congress in 1925 and the first Indian woman to do so. more…

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