SOURCE: An introduction to The Bird of Time: Songs of Life, Death & Spring, by Sarojini Naidu, New York: John Lane Company; London: William Heinemann, 1912, pp. 1-8.

In the following introduction to Naidu's The Bird of Time, Gosse remembers his early meetings with Naidu in London and how he encouraged her to write poetry.

It is only at the request, that is to say at the command, of a dear and valued friend that I consent to write these few sentences. It would seem that an "introduction" can only be needed when the personage to be "introduced" is unknown in a world prepared to welcome her but still ignorant of her qualities. This is certainly not the case with Mrs. Naidu, whose successive volumes, of which this is the third, have been received in Europe with approval, and in India with acclamation. Mrs. Naidu is, I believe, acknowledged to...