Village Song

Sarojini Naidu (1879–1949), the 'Nightingale of India', poet and freedom fighter, wrote this lyric in the voice of a frightened village girl hurrying home at nightfall. It vividly conveys her fear, her sense of duty and her simple, deep faith in God.

The temptation of the river path

A young village girl has gone to fetch water from the river Jamuna. Her water pitchers are full and heavy, and she has a long, lonely path to walk home. She laments that she was tempted to 'tarry' (delay), lured by the sweet, hypnotic song of the boatmen on the river, and so lost track of time.

The terror of the gathering night

Suddenly the darkness of night falls rapidly. The shadows gather and the girl is gripped by intense fear. She hears the ominous call of the white crane and the sharp cry of the wild owl, and there are no tender moonbeams to light her path.

She is terrified of the dangers lurking in the dark, afraid that a deadly serpent might bite her or an evil spirit might attack her. In her panic she repeats the prayer, 'Ram Re Ram! I shall die.'

The anxiety of the family

The girl's terror is doubled by her thoughts of her anxious family waiting at home. She knows her brother will be muttering, 'Why doth she linger?', and her mother will be weeping in fear, praying to the great gods to keep her safe.

To make matters worse, a dark storm begins to gather, with threatening lightning flashing across the sky. With no place to hide, she places her faith in God, begging Him to guide her footsteps safely back to her home.