Palanquin-Bearers is one of the best-known poems by the Indian writer Sarojini Naidu. Naidu was an important women’s rights activist and leader in the Indian independence movement as well as an accomplished poet. Her verse is among the earliest important works of Indian literature in English. Her first volume of poems, The Golden Threshold (1905), brought her immediate acclaim, becoming a best seller in the United Kingdom. Naidu became known as the “Nightingale of India” for her captivating, lyrical poems and speeches.
“Palanquin-Bearers,” from The Golden Threshold, paints a romantic image of village life in India. A palanquin is an enclosed carriage for one passenger carried on poles by two to four men. It usually bore a married lady of importance to and from her house. The men traditionally sang to the rhythm of their moving feet, and Naidu’s verse captures the sense of their rhythmic, repetitive song.
Lightly, O lightly, we bear her along, She sways like a flower in the wind of our song; She skims like a bird on the foam of a stream She floats like a laugh from the lips of a dream. Gaily, O gaily we glide and we sing, We bear her along like a pearl on a string. Softly, O softly we bear her along, She hangs like a star in the dew of our song; She springs like a beam on the brow of the tide, She falls like a tear from the eyes of a bride Lightly, O lightly we glide and we sing, We bear her along like a pearl on a string.
One of the most noticeable aspects of this short verse is the meter. The central foot, or metrical unit, is anapestic, consisting of two unstressed syllables followed by a stressed one (as in “like a bird“). Each line begins with either a stress (as in lines 1, 5, 7, 11), or an iamb (an unstressed syllable followed by a stress). Because each line ends with an emphasis on the final syllable, the poem is said to have a rising meter. The overall effect is of pulsing, ongoing movement, like the steps of the palanquin-bearers.
The descriptive language of the poem has an equally mesmerizing effect. Much of Naidu’s imagery is dreamlike. The poem is a string of metaphors that call up vague and dreamy associations relating to wind, dew, tides, and gentle tears. “Palanquin-Bearers” does not consider the drudgery involved in the menial job of carrying a palanquin. The poem does not question the social system that divides servants and masters so harshly. Naidu, who once said she was “not a poet really,” considered her work light and “ephemeral.”
Naidu’s poetry consists of beautiful and descriptive songs that paint an enchanting picture of Indian life. Some critics praised this songlike quality of her verse. However, other critics found fault with such a poetic approach, claiming that her picture of India was not real. Instead, it simply fulfilled a Western ideal of a picturesque, mystical, faraway place. Naidu was an upper-class woman educated in English who could not claim to represent ordinary Indians in her poetry. More sympathetic critics admit that Naidu’s verses exhibit a certain distance from her subject, but nevertheless show compassion. Few dispute the quality of her lyrical gifts.
Naidu went on to a distinguished career as a public speaker, campaigner, and stateswoman. She became president of the National Congress in 1925 and governor of the state of Uttar Pradesh in 1947.
