“Awake” by Sarojini Naidu begins with the poetess urging the mother to wake up from her deep

slumber, as her imploring children are desirous to adore and serve her. Why would the mother
want to sleep in sorrow when the night promises a utopian morning, asks the poetess.
Analogizing her country India to a mother, the poetess heretofore focuses on the sons of the soil
pleading to the motherland to awaken and sever the bonds that tie her to woes and slavery. The
poem, written in the pre-independence era, also describes all Indians – irrespective of their
religion, caste, and creed- to be the mother’s children and establishes their desire to make her
independent. The mother, in turn, loves all her children equally without any iota of
discrimination. The poetess has ingeniously overridden the concept of religion; she has signified
that people across faiths and creeds love the country as their own and want the motherland to
break free from British tyranny. She also exhibits a profound sense of understanding by
envisaging India, her motherland, as a Divine Mother (Naravane, 1996). This was necessary to
inspire an entire country to fight against the regiment that chained her hands.

The poem then sees the children question the mother if they are not hers and if she doesn’t
deem them fit to inherit her pride and power. Her continued slumber, they feel, has left them
impotent and constrained. The children reassure her that they will never fail or forsake those
who regard her as their home, shield, and altar. Through these lines, the poetess has instituted
the apotheosis of her motherland, highlighting yet again that the love for India transcends
religions. The children also promise that they would sing the mother’s praises and ensure her
glory reaches the stars. The collective prayers that the poem speaks of, show people across
faiths willing to pledge their lives for the country’s awakening, in turn cleverly splicing religious
boundaries.

In the final stanza of the poem, the theme gains much prominence. The poetess verbalizes the
thoughts of the Hindus, Parsis, Mussulmans, and Christians. While the Hindus assure their
flowers would crown the motherland, the Parsis promise to surround her with their flame of
hope. The Mussulmans swear to defend her with their swords and the Christians elevate her to
the divine. The poem finally forges disparate people across religions and creeds together to
offer the motherland their dauntless devotion.

The poem is an earnest appeal to the sons of the soil to mitigate their schisms and focus solely
on awakening the motherland. It also embosses the love and devotion Indians have towards
their country in the minds of the readers (Kaur, 2003). Unmistakable is the poetess’ belief that
only a united effort shall help wake India up and liberate her from the shackles of the British.
The poem is a call for action that strikes a chord with every patriot, outrivaling inequality,
religion, caste, or creed.
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