The Village Song by Sarojini Naidu

The Village Song by Sarojini Naidu 

HONEY, child, honey, child, whither are you going?
Would you cast your jewels all to the breezes blowing?
Would you leave the mother who on golden grain has fed you?
Would you grieve the lover who is riding forth to wed you?


Mother mine, to the wild forest I am going,
Where upon the champa boughs the champa buds are blowing;
To the köil-haunted river-isles where lotus lilies glisten,
The voices of the fairy folk are calling me: O listen!


Honey, child, honey, child, the world is full of pleasure,
Of bridal-songs and cradle-songs and sandal-scented leisure.
Your bridal robes are in the loom, silver and saffron glowing,
Your bridal cakes are on the hearth: O whither are you going?


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.

The poem is in the form a conversation (dialogue)  between a mother and a daughter. Here we see that the mother is insisting the daughter to come back to the world of reality by telling her how wonderful it is but the daughter is happy in her own dream world and is scared of the reality of life. 

In the first stanza the mother is asking her daughter, where is her daughter going? She asks further is she going to throw all her jewellery away and leave her mother who has looked after her so well? And is she going to abandon her groom who is looking forward to marry her?

In the second stanza the girl answers her mother, saying she is going to the forest where Champa branches are blowing and where the koel sings, where lies small river island, where she can see Lotus and Lillies sparkling. Lastly, she says that she hears some folk fairies voices calling her to the forest. May be that is her imagination to escape.

In the third stanza the mother further pursues her daughter to come back to reality saying this world where she is living is full of happiness. Since, her daughter is about to become a bride the mother says that there is bridal song that will be sung on her marriage for her and further it will be followed by the cradle song (which means that after marriage the next thing she is expected to do is have a baby) and there is lots of leisure time for her here. And she says that her bridle wear is being sewed and it has silver and saffron work on it and its sparkling and even the bridle cake is being prepared, now that everything is ready for her daughter to become a beautiful bride where is she going?

In the final stanza the daughter says the harsh truth of the real world explaining that the bridle song and the cradle song will turn into rhythm of sorrows and sadness one day. Yes, there is happiness today but tomorrow it will be all gone and there will only be mourning of death and sadness and this is the reality of this life. But the world where she wishes to go is sweeter than this reality there lies only happiness. In that world she is sure of  listening to only sounds from the forest, streams falling. So she says 'oh mother please let me go I cannot stay here this world is not for me nor i wish to make it mine. My world lies in the forest where the folk fairies are calling me.

In this poem poet Sarojini Naidu is reflecting the real world and how girls are forced to do their duties by getting married rather than pursuing their dream though written many years ago the beauty of this poem is that it holds good even to this day and age, where even now we see if a girl is not married at the right age she is looked down upon although she might be successful professionally but that hardly matters. There is always rules and regulations a girl should follow through out her life and she has no freedom to do whatever she wants and no freedom to live her life on her own terms, and thats the truth of this real world and thats what the poet is trying to convey through this poem.