This is a recording of Sarojini Naidu reciting her poem ‘Awake’, in which she appeals to Indians of all religious groups to unite in the fight against British rule. Sarojini Naidu was a poet and political activist; she was elected president of the Indian National Congress in 1925. At the time this recording was made in December 1931, Naidu was in London to attend the second Round Table Conference with Gandhi. The three Round Table Conferences of 1930–32 were convened by the British government and Indian political leaders to discuss possible changes to the government of India.

Naidu originally recited this poem at the end of a public speech to the Indian National Congress in Bombay (now Mumbai) in 1915. She dedicated it to the Muslim League leader and eventual founder of Pakistan, Muhammad Ali Jinnah. In the published version of this poem the last lines directly reference different religious groups in an appeal to unite and defend Mother India.

Read more about this recording in the British Library’s Sound and Vision blog

Awake!

Invocation to India.

Her children speak.

Waken, O mother! Thy children implore thee,

Who kneel in thy presence to serve and adore thee!

The night is aflush with a dream of the morrow,

Why still dost thou sleep in thy bondage of sorrow?

Awaken and sever the woes that enthral us,

And hallow our hands for the triumphs that call us!

Are we not thine, O Belov’d, to inherit

The manifold power and pride of thy spirit?

Ne’er shall we fail thee, forsake thee or falter,

Whose hearts are thy home and thy shield and thine altar.

Lo! We would thrill the high stars with thy story,

And set thee again in the forefront of glory.

Mother! The flowers of our worship have crowned thee!

Mother! The flame of our hope shall surround thee!

Mother! The sword of our love shall defend thee!

Mother! The song of our faith shall attend thee!

Shall not our dauntless devotion avail thee?

Hearken! O queen and O goddess, we hail thee!