The poems had a performative dimension since they were recited or sung at public gatherings as participatory texts.  While Gandhi introduced the concept of satyagraha, it was the poets who presented in with an emotive appeal.  They were among the first to recognize its value as a revolutionary concept; and declared its importance to the world through poems incorporating the cultural-literary motifs of their Indian heritage.  They helped to sustain the movement by present satyagraha as a concept and a historical moment, and by drawing attention to the dynamic relationship between ideals and individual acts of heroism.  

Their poems are creative products of South Africa's history as well as a distinctive literary genre of early Indian diaspora community.  Gandhi's use of this resource adds a new dimension to understanding satyagraha as a movement and his role as a creative leader in South Africa, which prepared him for his later career in India.