Sarojini Naidu’s “Farewell” is a goodbye spoken not to a person but to her own songs. In the opening lines, she turns them into a bright shower of butterflies, a soft cloud of bees, and a fragile storm of leaves drifting on the breeze. Then the image shifts to wild birds flying eagerly toward an unknown sky. The speaker feels tenderness and a quiet wistfulness: she loves these “sweet comrades of a lyric spring,” yet she releases them. The mood is light, airy, and affectionate rather than heavy or mournful. The imagery suggests that a song, once written, has a life of its own — it must leave its maker and travel somewhere beyond her. The natural scenes make the farewell feel inevitable and even beautiful, like spring ending or birds migrating. It is a gentle, hopeful valediction.
Farewell — Summary
Bright shower of lambent butterflies, Soft cloud of murmuring bees, O fragile storm of sighing leaves Adrift upon the breeze !
Wild birds with eager wings outspread To seek an alien sky. Sweet comrades of a lyric spring. My little songs, good-bye !