Summary
"Wandering Singers" is a lyric poem by Sarojini Naidu, one of India's most celebrated poets, also known as Bharat Kokila (The Nightingale of India). The poem is from the perspective of a group of nomadic musicians who travel from place to place, singing songs and playing their lutes. They are guided not by personal desire but by the voice of the wind, which serves as a metaphor for destiny and fate.
The singers consider the entire world their home and all people their family. Their songs are about the glory of ancient cities, the beauty of women long gone, heroic battles of the past, and the crowns of bygone kings. They also sing of emotions -- happiness, simplicity, and sorrow. They have no attachment to any place, person, or ambition. They do not pause for love or joy; instead, they follow wherever the wind takes them, accepting their wandering life as their fate.
The poem captures the free-spirited life of travelling minstrels and celebrates the themes of universal brotherhood, freedom, and acceptance of destiny.
Themes
- Freedom and Wanderlust: The singers roam freely through forests and streets, unbound by any place or possession. Their life embodies total freedom and a love of travel.
- Universal Brotherhood: The line "All men are our kindred, the world is our home" expresses the idea that all humans are one family and the entire world belongs to everyone equally.
- Fate and Destiny: The wind symbolises fate. The singers do not choose their path; they follow wherever the wind calls them. "The voice of the wind is the voice of our fate" makes this theme explicit.
- Nostalgia and the Past: Their songs celebrate the glory of ancient cities, the beauty of women long dead, old battles, and old kings -- evoking a deep sense of nostalgia for a bygone era.
- Detachment: The singers are detached from worldly desires. No love or joy can make them stay. They live in the present moment without gathering hopes or sowing dreams.
- Music and Art: Music is central to the singers' identity. They carry lutes and are "ever-singing," showing that art and music give meaning and purpose to their wandering lives.