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Sarojini Naidu, The Bird of Time: Songs of Life, Death, and the Spring, London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1914

xii, 103 pp.; hardbound with dust jacket
9 x 5.75 in (23.2 x 15 cm)

Autograph manuscript of an unpublished or variant poem, signed (“Sarojini Naidu”) and dated “13th Feb 1916” / “March 1917” Bombay, written in ink on the front pastedown endpaper.

“‘O LET MY LOVE ATONE’ / ‘O LET MY DEATH ATONE’: A SIGNED PAIR OF POEMS IN MANUSCRIPT BY SAROJINI NAIDU, 1916–1917”

Two versions of a short lyric poem, each of six lines, entirely in Naidu’s hand, the first beginning

Deep in a lonely garden on the hill
Lulled by the low sea-tides,
A Shadow set in Shadows soft and still
A wandering Spirit grieves
Smiling its pallid pales and making Moan
“O let my Love atone”

And the second varying in structure

"Deep in a lonely garden on the hill
Among the broken leaves,
A Shadow lost in Shadows Vague and Chill
A wandering Spirit grieves,
Beating its pallid breast and making Moan
“O let my Death atone!”

Signed boldly in ink at the foot with both composition and presentation dates. The poem is likely unpublished in its current form and could potentially be a working or variant draft meant for future private distribution.

A rare example of Naidu’s manuscript verse in situ, blending her hallmark romantic mysticism with an elegiac tone. As one of India’s leading nationalist poets and the first female president of the Indian National Congress, autograph manuscripts by Sarojini Naidu are of exceptional scarcity, particularly in poetic form with revisions.

This rare book consists of four sections of verse, viz. Songs of Love & Death, Songs of the Springtime, Indian folk songs, and Songs of Life. Each work is rooted in the perennial current of Indian philosophy, folklore, nature, music, and verse.

The Songs of Springtime are a celebration of nature and accentuate the intimate association with plants & flowers in Sarojini Naidu's life & poetry. Several poems in this set are devoted to specific plants and flowers. The rich history of Hyderabad, the land of Sarojini Naidu's birth, also inspired the creation of some moving poems featured in this book.

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