Rise, brothers, rise; the wakening skies pray to the morning light,
The wind lies asleep in the arms of the dawn like a child that has cried all night.
Come, let us gather our nets from the shore and set our catamarans free,
To capture the leaping wealth of the tide, for we are the kings of the sea!
No longer delay, let us hasten away in the track of the sea gull's call,
The sea is our mother, the cloud is our brother, the waves are our comrades all.
What though we toss at the fall of the sun where the hand of the sea-god drives?
He who holds the storm by the hair, will hide in his breast our lives.
Sweet is the shade of the cocoanut glade, and the scent of the mango grove,
And sweet are the sands at the full o' the moon with the sound of the voices we love;
But sweeter, O brothers, the kiss of the spray and the dance of the wild foam's glee;
Row, brothers, row to the edge of the verge, where the low sky mates with the sea.
I loved the poem. It was really unique in its universal approach. Sarojni Naidu was a painter poet. She painted a great picture of the anglers' daily strive in the sea very delicately. She was rightly called 'The Nightingale of India.'
It's the poem I was looking for! It is a great poem and it is in my school's course!
This is like a marching song. The clarion call is clear. It will certainly wake up any sleeping heart. We all require such a clarion call. A well knit, crisp and precise poem. May her voice continue to wake up so many coming generations through this poem. She has indeed a very blest pen.
I am delighted to read this poem after almost 20 years gap. I feel blessed today.
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
Oh, what a delightful poem, with such easy grace of words and thought. These are words which can arouse a dead man. Simple and powerful imagery. The soft cadence of the words soothens the heart and brings solace to the human soul. Oh Nightingale of India, were you but alive today, I would have bowed before you and taken the dust of your feet. However, you still live in our heart, and will live on for ever.