Laila Sumpton reads 'The Gift of India' by Sarojini Naidu.

Описание: 'The Gift of India' was written in 1915 by the renowned Indian poet and activist Sarojini Naidu. The poem commemorates the soldiers of the Indian subcontinent who fought in World War One.

This reading of Naidu's poem by Laila Sumpton was commissioned by Keats House for Remembrance Day 2020. Laila is one of the Keats House Poets and is our Poet in Residence for autumn / winter 2020 of the Keats200 bicentenary programme. Laila will be using her residency at Keats House to explore colonial histories and legacies through poetry.

The bicentenary of Keats’s most productive years as a poet, and the period when he found inspiration, friendship and love, is an exciting opportunity to (re)discover and enjoy his works as well as engage with poetry and its ongoing relevance to us all today.

We therefore hope this poem speaks to you.

'The Gift of India' by Sarojini Naidu

Is there aught you need that my hands withhold,
Rich gifts of raiment or grain or gold?
Lo! I have flung to the East and West
Priceless treasures torn from my breast,
And yielded the sons of my stricken womb
To the drum-beats of duty, the sabres of doom.

Gathered like pearls in their alien gravès
Silent they sleep by the Persian waves,
Scattered like shells on Egyptian sands,
They lie with pale brows and brave, broken hands,
They are strewn like blossoms mown down by chance
On the blood-brown meadows of Flanders and France.

Can ye measure the grief of the tears I weep
Or compass the woe of the watch I keep?
Or the pride that thrills thro' my heart's despair
And the hope that comforts the anguish of prayer?
And the far sad glorious vision I see
Of the torn red banners of Victory?

When the terror and tumult of hate shall cease
And life be refashioned on anvils of peace,
And your love shall offer memorial thanks
To the comrades who fought in your dauntless ranks,
And you honour the deeds of the deathless ones,
Remember the blood of my martyred sons!