SOURCE: "Sarojini Naidu: A Poetess of Sweetness and Light," in Indo-English Literature: A Collection of Critical Essays, edited by K. K. Sharma, Vimal Prakashan, 1977, pp. 61-70.

In the following essay, Mather discusses the delicacy of Naidu's language and imagery.

John Keats has very beautiful lines:

When old age shall this generation waste
 Thou shalt remain, in midst of other woe
 Than ours, a friend to man, to whom thou say't
 "Beauty is truth truth beauty," that is all
 Ye know on earth, and all ye need, to know.

These lines are taken from his "Ode on a Grecian Urn". They contain a great philosophy. Many of us think of John Keats as merely sensuous, denied heights of philosophical thoughts. We have been infinitely fascinated by his luxurious line "A thing of beauty is a joy for ever." That line is full of luxury of sensuousness, taken away from...