ABOUT THE POET
Sarojini  Naidu 13 February 1879 – 2 March 1949) was an Indian political activist and poet. A proponent of civil rights, women's emancipation, and anti -imperialistic ideas, she was an important figure in India's struggle movement against the colonial rule. Naidu's work as a poet earned her the sobriquet 'Nightingale of India' by Mahatma Gandhi. She was called 'Bharat Kokila' by Rabindranath Tagore.

CRITICAL APPRECIATION
Autumn Song by Sarojini Naidu is a metaphorical poem in which the poet compares the season of autumn with the condition of her heart after losing a dream. The poet begins the poem by comparing the joy of sorrowful autumn with sunset light on the cloud which is golden. Autumn is the season in which trees lose their greenery. The joy of autumn is similar to sun’s joy which appears after losing its sunshine during the time of sunset. Rather than its bright light, it appears to be golden and beautiful. These two lines suggest that the poet is trying to find joy in the loss of something. In the second part of the poem, the poet asks to listen to a voice that is calling to her heart in the voice of wind. The trees’ voice can be heard during the storm when it has left. In the final line, there is a complete shift from remorse and mourning to a sense of moving on or change. As the trees after losing their joy (leaves) move on and hope for next spring, the poet says that she should also move on because there is no sense in mourning for something which is no more.

I am afraid to touch

the hurts you have known, child

the sobs under the skin

the terror forged in your lines.

Will poems make up for these?

I'll make poems while the mind keeps.

And send you word salve for manbite.

Be well.  Be mine. 
adopted From My Class
By Sunitha Jain 

CHILDREN, ye have not lived, to you it seems
 Life is a lovely stalactite of dreams,
 Or carnival of careless joys that leap
 About your hearts like billows on the deep
 In flames of amber and of amethyst.
 
 Children, ye have not lived, ye but exist
 Till some resistless hour shall rise and move
 Your hearts to wake and hunger after love,
 And thirst with passionate longing for the things
 That burn your brows with blood-red sufferings.
 
 Till ye have battled with great grief and fears,
 And borne the conflict of dream-shattering years,
 Wounded with fierce desire and worn with strife,
 Children, ye have not lived: for this is life.

POETS INTODUCTION

Sarojini Naidu, was born on February 13, 1879 in Hyderabad and died on March 2, 1949, Lucknow.  She was a political activist, feminist, poetess, and the first Indian woman to be president of the Indian National Congress and to be appointed an Indian state governor. She was also called “the Nightingale of India.” Some of her famous poems are; Autumn Song, A Love Song from the North, A Rajput Love Song, Alabaster, An Indian Love Song.

Poet: 

NAIDU, SAROJINI (1879–1949), Indian poet, feminist, and nationalist leader Sarojini Naidu was born on 13 February 1879, the eldest child of Brahma Samajist parents: Varada Sundari Devi, who wrote Bengali lyrics, and Aghorenath Chattopadhyaya, scientist and founder of Nizam's College in Hyderabad. Sarojini Naidu's verses were published in four volumes: Songs (1895), The Golden Threshold (1905), The Bird of Time (1912), and The Broken Wing (1917), all highly acclaimed for their evocative and romantic descriptions of India.

Appreciation:- In this poem, she is speaking to her heart. It talks about taking time to reflect on dreams and memories in order to find the strength to face them everyday. As the name suggests the main concept revolves around the forest.The trees in the forest fancies to burn their fallen dreams with an ambition of arranging funeral for petals.The wood wants to rest ,taking time to mourn till the evening.Such is the grief after the demise of their beloved dreams.
Amid all these dependencies the port also pitches the advent of the hope.The wood echoes that they must rise from the ashes,they must wander,gather their dreams which still not have been broken and start a new chapter of life.
This poem is rich in imagery and transports you immediately to a world you can only hope isn’t imaginary. The poet used anaphora at the beginnings of some neighboring lines. The same word here is repeated.
In the last stanza she says that we shall get back again and coins the term " War of the worlds" , and at last she concludes by saying that "We will conquer the  sorrow of life with the sorrow of the song", which every time makes me smile because it is so well written that I can totally relate to it. She  methodically portrays the ugly truth of life. The poem also deals with the poignant sorrow and mourning after the loss of the beloved dreams. She then uplifts her heart to gather the dreams that remain by giving the readers a memorandum for life and forever.
Rhyme Scheme: abab cdcd cece

Thank You

When I read the poem, I liked the whole poem itself and there wasn't any part I disliked as there was a special charm in the lyrics.

It did a picturesque and a spectacular description of the Indian wares. This poem is also a reminder of the truth of life , that there are both happy and sad phases in life which we have to face. 

Only the second, fourth and the sixth line of each stanza were rhythmic.

Visual imagery is depicted with the use of vibrant colours like silver, crimson, purple etc. She has also used similes. 'Frail as a dragonfly's wing' is a fine example of this. In addition to this metaphors are also used in the poem such as 'to perfume the sleep of the dead'. 

It is a dazzling and a colourful poem which is appreciable.

I want you to say
 you love me
 as leaves grow
 on clinging vines--
 say it again and again till
 feeling is a net of veins
 flowing with life.
 
 Till music, hard and clean
 like river water on stones,
 courses through my soul chime
                         - Sunita Jain


Sunita Jain is an Indian scholar, novelist, short-story writer and poet of English and Hindi literature. She is a former professor and the Head of the department of Humanities and Social Sciences at IIT (Indian Institute of Technology) Delhi. She has published over 60 books, in English and Hindi, besides translating many Jain writings into English. 

In my opinion the poem has a soothing effect on my mind. The poet, Sunita Jain expresses a very beautiful correlation of a wonderful feeling that is love with nature. She has beautifully drawn an analogy between different occurrences that take place in nature with love. The happenings illustrated by the poet like clinging vines and the river water on stones coursing through the soul chime takes us through a great example of imagery. The poet portrays the periodic events that take place in nature& beautifully woven them with the feeling of love.The poem has a very simple flow but connects with audience instantly.

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.

 
Critical appreciation: In the poem 'Past and Future' the protagonist remembers and cherishes his childhood. He rembered the beauty of children's life. But then in the future everything changes and you realise the actual meaning of life. He says that used to live in heaven but now is too far from heaven. 

              Sarojini Naidu
was an Indian political activist and poet. A proponent of civil rights, women's emancipation, and anti-imperialistic ideas, she was an important figure in India's struggle for independence from colonial rule rule. Naidu's work as a poet earned her the sobriquet 'Nightingale of India' by Mahatma Gandhi. She was called 'Bharat Kokila' by Rabindranath Tagore'. 


 

ONCE in the dream of a night I stood
Lone in the light of a magical wood,
Soul-deep in visions that poppy-like sprang;
And spirits of Truth were the birds that sang,
And spirits of Love were the stars that glowed,
And spirits of Peace were the streams that flowed
In that magical wood in the land of sleep.

Lone in the light of that magical grove,
I felt the stars of the spirits of Love
Gather and gleam round my delicate youth,
And I heard the song of the spirits of Truth;
To quench my longing I bent me low
By the streams of the spirits of Peace that flow
In that magical wood in the land of sleep

                                 -Sarojini Naidu 

The poem ‘Life’ is a quintain, written by Sarojini Naidu. The poetess tries to tell that the young generations have not experienced life to the fullest yet. She says there will come times when life will give hardships which will make you experience hunger and thirst for all the worldly desires in life. At that point of time they will have to struggle that will make then stronger later. The poet gives a glimpse of the future which is completely contrary to their dreams. She tries to give the message to the children that life is full of obstacles which needs to be faced to reach success. This poem is a teaching to the children about how the future is and that we must face it no matter what comes in our way. The beautiful vocabulary and deep meaning have made this poem so pleasing.

Sarojini Naidu, née Sarojini Chattopadhyay, (born February 13, 1879, Hyderabad, India—died March 2, 1949, Lucknow), political activist, feminist, poet, and the first Indian woman to be president of the Indian National Congress and to be appointed an Indian state governor. She was sometimes called “the Nightingale of India.”

Sarojini was the eldest daughter of Aghorenath Chattopadhyay, Sarojini Naidu also led an active literary life and attracted notable Indian intellectuals to her famous salon in Bombay (now Mumbai). Her first volume of poetry, The Golden Threshold (1905), was followed by The Bird of Time (1912), and in 1914 she was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. Her collected poems, all of which she wrote in English, have been published under the titles The Sceptred Flute (1928) and The Feather of the Dawn (1961).a Bengali Brahman who was principal of the Nizam’s College, Hyderabad. She entered the University of Madras at the age of 12 and studied (1895–98) at King’s College, London, and later at Girton College, Cambridge.

Sarojini Naidu also led an active literary life and attracted notable Indian intellectuals to her famous salon in Bombay (now Mumbai). Her first volume of poetry, The Golden Threshold (1905), was followed by The Bird of Time (1912), and in 1914 she was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. Her collected poems, all of which she wrote in English, have been published under the titles The Sceptred Flute (1928) and The Feather of the Dawn (1961).

Naidu's poetry includes both children's poems and others written on more serious themes including patriotism, romance, and tragedy. Published in 1912, "In the Bazaars of Hyderabad" remains one of her most popular poems. She was married to Govindarajulu Naidu, a general physician, and had five children with him. She died of a cardiac arrest on 2 March 1949.

Critical Appreciation 

The poem Autumn Song written by Sarojini Naidu is a short verse of 10 lines. In the poem, the poet talks about the autumn of her heart and her wish to move on. Autumn is the season of loss. In this season, the trees lose their leaves which make them jolly. Autumn makes the leaves golden and weak which ultimately fall off the trees.

Similarly the heart of the poet has just lost its dream or beloved which has made it sorrowful. It is weeping and the poet desires to listen to it. Finally she realises that it is useless to remorse on the loss of something which cannot be regained back. Like the trees move on and hope for the next spring, the poet also decides to move on and give up the mourning and remorseful feelings.

The poet begins the poem by comparing the joy of sorrowful autumn with sunset light on the cloud which is golden. Autumn is the season in which trees lose their greenery. However, the loss of green leaves leads to golden colour which again makes the trees beautiful

The joy of autumn is similar to sun’s joy which appears after losing its sunshine during the time of sunset. Rather than its bright light, it appears to be golden and beautiful. These two lines suggest that the poet is trying to find joy in the loss of something.

In the third line, the poet says that during autumn, there is a golden storm of glittering sheaves.  Glittering sheaves mean shining heaps/bundles of golden leaves which are fair and frail and fluttering i.e. they are pure golden, weak and flying here and there, thus producing a golden storm.

This wild wind blows in a cloud and it is what makes the clouds take away the joy of sunlight and make the leaves break from trees and break into small fragments that make the atmosphere golden.

The stanza is quite symbolic and has profound and deep meaning. The autumn here is the autumn of a poet’s heart which has lost a dear one. There are clouds of sorrow in her heart. The fragments of weak leaves symbolise the pain of loss which blows like the wild wind on the heart.

In the second part of the poem, the poet asks to listen to a voice that is calling to her heart in the voice of the wind. The trees’ voice can be heard during the storm when it has left.

However, in autumn, its leaves become weak and tear away leaving the naked tree whose voice cannot be heard in the storm. Like the alone and sorrowful tree, the heart of the poet is also weary and sad and alone because like the leaves of the tree, it has lost its dreams or a beloved.

In the final line, there is a complete shift from remorse and mourning to a sense of moving on or change. As the trees after losing their joy (leaves) move on and hope for next spring, the poet says that she should also move on because there is no sense in mourning for something which is no more.

 

Critical Appreciation
In the poem written by samartha vashishtha, he talks about the hardwork and struggle behind the success of a person. I find this poem inspirational as it talks about the continuous hardwork of a person to suceed.

The poet through this poem sets a very beautiful aspect and good feelings in our lives. Through this poem, the poet says that when we fall we need a ground to strike, which means that unless we fall we never know the importance of success, and how do we know the struggle that we have done. The sound of the rain makes a soothing sound and which makes us feel happy. We should never waste our time and keep going in our life; we should never stop in our life and face everything, which comes in between the success of our life. It ends where it began which means where the day began with happiness it will always end with happiness bottomless like you. The world is endless and we can do whatever we want in this world to achieve success and when it starts with happiness it always ends with happiness, there are few struggles in between but to face them is a challenge and to move on is a right. Through this poem the poet depicts the same through the help of this poem.

falling, you need a ground to strike

solid, harsh; something to bang your head

to crack your skull when you open

your eyes in a cozy blue-lit room

with a distant rain lingering in your senses

and the neons flickering on statues in bedroom poses.

It has no beginning to boast off

it ends where it began

bottomless like you.

         
               Autumn Song 

Like a joy on the heart of a sorrow,

The sunset hangs on a cloud;

A golden storm of glittering sheaves,

Of fair and frail and fluttering leaves,

The wild wind blows in a cloud.

Hark to a voice that is calling

To my heart in the voice of the wind:

My heart is weary and sad and alone,

For its dreams like the fluttering leaves have gone,

And why should I stay behind?

KNOW YOUR POET
Sarojini Naidu (13 February 1879- March 1949) was an Indian political activist and a poet.
Sarojini Naidu’s work as a poet earned her the sobriquet ‘Nightingale of India’ by Mahatma Gandhi. She was called ‘Bharat Kokila’ by Rabindranath Tagore.
She was appointed as the president of the Indian National
Congress in 1925 and later became the Governor of UP in 1947. Sarojini Naidu’s famous poems include “AUTUMN SONG”, “CORN GRINDERS”, “COROMANDEL FISHERS” and many more. 

CRITICAL APPRECIATION

The poem ‘autumn song’ is a quintain written by Sarojini Naidu. This is a metamorphic poem. The poetess describes the state of her heart with the help of autumn. Autumn is a season of loss, where trees lose their pretty green leaves. Similarly, is the state of the poetess after loosing a dream or a loved one. Later, she realizes that its useless to remorse over the past which cannot be brought back. Just like the trees, when they lose their leaves, they hope for the next spring to come. The poetess also decides to move on. As life must go on. The beautiful vocabulary and the deep meaning in the poem have made it so special and beautiful.

I am afraid to touch

the hurts you have known, child

the sobs under the skin

the terror forged in your lines.

Will poems make up for these?

I’ll make poems while the mind keeps.

And send you word salve for manbite.

              Know your poet
Sunita Jain (1940-2017) was an Indian novelist, short story writer and poet of English and Hindi literature. She was a former professor at the head of the department of Humanities and Social studies at the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi. She has published over 60 books, in English and Hindi. The government of India awarded her the fourth highest civilian honor of the Padma Shri in 2004.

        CRITICAL APPRECIATION
This poem is coming from the pen of an Indian scholar Sunita Jain, who is a Haryanvi and an English poet. In the poem my class the poet hesitates to convince the child. The poet explains the pain and hurts the child has suffered. The poet also Questions the if the poems can cure the child’s wound. The poet also says that the poem will be making poems while the mind keeps it stored. To conclude this poem will be always remembered in my heart.