Today's Beautiful Gem: "Indian weavers" by Sarojini Naidu

         Sarojini Naidu was perhaps one Indian poet whose poems may
be termed as English songs set to Indian music! The rhyme as well
as the rhythm in her poems are peculiarly Indian and certainly
unsurpassable. But it is for this very reason that some critics
complain that she is not deep and profound. Here is a poem by her
that has music as well as philosophical thoughts.

"Weavers, weaving at break of day,
Why do you weave a garment so gay? ...
Blue as the wing of a halcyon wild,
We weave the robes of a new-born child.

"Weavers, weaving at fall of night,
Why do you weave a garment so bright? ...
Like the plumes of a peacock, purple and green,
We weave the marriage-veils of a queen.

"Weavers, weaving solemn and still,
Why do you weave in the moonlight chill? ...
White as a feather and white as a cloud,
We weave a dead man's funeral shroud."

Om shaantiH Peace! - J. K. Mohana Rao

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