The Gift of India (1915), written by Sarojini Naidu alludes to the selfless sacrifice and courage of Indian soldiers who participated in the First World war. The poet mourns over her deceased children who sacrificed their lives in the war and sung for the soldiers who died in other foreign lands. The poem critiques the war and its impact on the family causes devastation. The title of the poem is suggestive of the gift of India that India bestowed upon Britain in fighting against Germany.
The poem highlights the brutality of the war where it destroy the innocence of the soldiers. Naidu states that the soldiers ” gathered like pearls in their alien graves” where the word “pearls” shows the innocence of the soldiers lying on the foreign lands. The soldiers lie silently “by the Persian waves” and “Scattered like shells on Egyptians sands” where the simile showcases the quality of the soldiers courage and sacrifices for the nation.
The anaphora heightens the loss of innocence where the soldiers “lie with pale brows and brave, broken hands,/ They are strewn like blossoms mown down by chance”. The brutality of the war is seen in the imagery where the Indian soldiers lie “on the blood-brown meadows of Flanders and France”.
In addition to this, it delineates the psychological impact of war on the family. Naidu established the theme of universal womanhood where the woman’s sensitivity towards the loss of her child and pathos is reflected in the poem. The mental turmoil is depicted with the use of rhetorical question and anaphora. The rhetorical question exhibited the woman’s sensitivity of grief over the loss of her child where the poet highlights ” Can ye measure the grief of the tears I weep/ Or compass the woe of the watch I Keep?”. The lines are suggestive of the theme of universal womanhood of establishing the woman’s emotions and her psychological effects over her deceased sons. The poet further employs whether the “pride” provokes in her heart would overpower the “heart’s despair”.
The anaphora portrays the intense emotions of pathos and uncertainties which the mother India feels about her sons. The poet questions whether they can perceive or sense the “hope” while she prays for she only sees “the far sad glorious vision I see/ Of the torn red banners of victory”. These lines are evocative of the uncertainty of hope and despair towards the soldiers whether they will return safely or die on the foreign lands. The “vision” she sees is the “red banners” or blood of her sons over the torn flags of “victory”.
Hence, the poem is an echo to the unsung soldiers who died in the battlefield. Many Indian soldiers were unremembered or undervalued who participated in the war and the poem urges the suffice and values to Indian soldiers. War only gives spotlight to the colonial power to which the Indian soldiers were not mentioned. Therefore, the poem urges the colonial power to honor the valor of Indian soldiers. The poet states that when the “terror and tumult of hate” shall stop and “life” will be “refashioned’ with “peace”, the “love” of Britain “shall offer memorial thanks” to the deceased Indian soldiers. She further states that they should honor “the comrades” who “fought in your dauntless ranks” and “the deeds of the deathless ones” through remembrance of “the blood of my martyred sons!”.
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