The bridal-songs and cradle-songs have cadences of sorrow,The laughter of the sun to-day, the wind of death to-morrow.Far sweeter sound the forest-notes where forest-streams are falling;O mother mine, I cannot stay, the fairy-folk are calling.SAROJINI NAIDU
@Dev, I love this! Why this photo/poem combo speaks to me as it does, I’m not sure — but it makes my day.
Thanks too for introducing me to Sarojini Naidu. This wonderful poet is an amazing lady who had until now flown beneath my radar. You inspired me to look up her biography and some of her poems, which all have the lovely sing-song cadence of the snippet you posted.
One of the first things I wondered was whether we were reading a translation, or an English original. The latter, if I’m understanding what I’m learning. This is what I suspected: Translations typically have an awkward feeling or rhythm; this one has a flow that normally comes only with original-language composition. (Fitzgerald’s “Rubiyyat” translation of Omar Khayyam being a notable exception, since Fitzgerald more or less rewrote the poem in English — it’s like an original poem in its own right.)
Anyway, I learned, from following up, that “Indian English” poetry has a long and proud tradition, of which I knew nothing, and of which Ms Naidu is a shining example. Great posting!
Thank you for the thoughtful comment, Gary! And yes, there were a few poets (writers) in India who wrote in English directly. India was the “jewel of the crown” for a long while after all… Many of the poems of Tagore that I share are either written directly in English or were translated by Tagore himself, which one can argue, is not much different from being original.
About the poem itself, it has a runaway feeling of freedom and the lure of nature which I think permeates all of Indian culture. There is a book called Sadhana by Tagore, perhaps a compilation of talks in NY, in which he speaks how nature/wilderness and human civilization in India aren’t (weren’t) at odds with each other, rather they were complementary.
I am so glad you liked this post. Now, that made my day.