Songs of Love

With an Introduction by Edmund Gosse

Sarojini Naidu

• Publisher: Ragged Hand - Read & Co.
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN: 9781528716673
• eBook ISBN: 9781528789479
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: Asian Poetry
• Index: Literature

"Songs of Love" is a beautiful collection of some of Naidu's most moving poetry not to be missed by fans and collectors of her work. Contents include: "The Poet's Love-Song", "Song Of A Dream", "Ecstasy", "Humayun To Zobeida", "The Bird Of Time", "An Indian Love Song", "Love And Death", "The Dance Of Love", "A Love Son", "A Rajput Love Song", "A Persian Love Song", "To Love", etc. Sarojini Naidu (1879–1949) was an Indian political activist and poet. She was a staunch proponent of women's emancipation, civil rights, and anti-imperialistic ideas, playing an important role in India's struggle for independence from colonial rule. Her work as a poet includes both children's poems and others with more mature themes including patriotism, romance, and tragedy, earning her the sobriquet "Nightingale of India". Her most famous work is "In the Bazaars of Hyderabad" (1912), which remains widely read to this day. Read & Co. is publishing this brand new poetry collection complete with an introduction by Edmund Gosse.

III. THE SANCTUARY

1.

THE FEAR OF LOVE

O could my love devise
A shield for you from envious lips and eyes
That desecrate the sweetness of your days
With tumults of their praise!

O could my love design
A secret, sealed, invulnerable shrine
To hide you, happy and inviolate,
From covetous Time and Fate.

Love, I am drenched with fear
Lest the uncounted avarice of the year
Add to the triumph of all garnered grace
The rapture of your face!

I tremble with despair
Lest the far-journeying winds and sunbeams bear
Bright rumours of your luring brows and breath
Unto the groves of Death.

What sanctuary can I pledge
Whose very love of you is sacrilege?
O I would save you from the ravening fire
Of my own heart's desire!

2.

THE ILLUSION OF LOVE

Beloved, you may be as all men say

Only a transient spark

Of flickering flame set in a lamp of clay —

I care not . . . since you kindle all my dark

With the immortal lustres of the day.

And as all men deem, dearest, you may be

Only a common shell

Chance-winnowed by the sea-winds from the sea —

I care not . . . since you make most audible

The subtle murmurs of eternity.

And tho' you are, like men of mortal race,

Only a hapless thing

That Death may mar and destiny efface —

I care not . . . since unto my heart you bring

The very vision of God's dwelling-place.

3.

THE WORSHIP OF LOVE

Crush me, O Love, betwixt thy radiant fingers

Like a frail lemon leaf or basil bloom,

Till aught of me that lives for thee or lingers

Be but the wraith of memory's perfume,

And every sunset wind that wandereth

Grow sweeter for my death!

Burn me, O Love, as in a glowing censer

Dies the rich substance of a sandal grain,

Let my soul die till nought but an intenser

Fragrance of my deep worship doth remain —

And every twilight star shall hold its breath

And praise thee for my death!

4.

LOVE TRIUMPHANT

If your fair mind were quenched with dark distress,
Your dear hands stained with fierce blood-guiltiness,
Or your sweet flesh fell rotting from the bone,
Should not my deep unchanging love atone
And shield you from the sore decree of Fat...

Table of contents

• INTRODUCTION
• THE POET'S LOVE-SONG
• SONG OF A DREAM
• ECSTASY
• HUMAYUN TO ZOBEIDA
• THE BIRD OF TIME
• AN INDIAN LOVE SONG
• LOVE AND DEATH
• THE DANCE OF LOVE
• A LOVE SONG FROM THE NORTH
• ALONE
• A RAJPUT LOVE SONG
• A PERSIAN LOVE SONG
• TO LOVE
• THE HUSSAIN SAAGAR
• THE FAERY ISLE OF JANJIRA
• AN ANTHEM OF LOVE
• LONGING
• THE FESTIVAL OF MEMORY
• I. THE GATE OF DELIGHT
• II. THE PATH OF TEARS
• III. THE SANCTUARY
• BIBLIOGRAPHY