Bangle Sellers by Sarojini Naidu

The Bangle Sellers by Sarojini Naidu
Read the poem silently

• Some are like fields of sunlit corn,
• Bangle sellers are we who bear
Meet for a bride on her bridal morn,
Our shining loads to the temple fair...
Some, like the flame of her marriage fire,
Who will buy these delicate, bright
Or, rich with the hue of her heart's desire,
Rainbow-tinted circles of light?
Tinkling, luminous, tender, and clear,
Lustrous tokens of radiant lives,
Like her bridal laughter and bridal tear.
For happy daughters and happy wives.
• Some are purple and gold flecked grey
• Some are meet for a maiden's wrist,
For she who has journeyed through life midway,
Silver and blue as the mountain mist,
Whose hands have cherished, whose love has
Some are flushed like the buds that dream
blest,
On the tranquil brow of a woodland stream,
And cradled fair sons on her faithful breast,
Some are aglow with the bloom that cleaves
And serves her household in fruitful pride,
To the limpid glory of new-born leaves
And worships the gods at her husband's side.
Structure or form of the poem
• The Bangle Sellers’ is a well-written lyric poem of 24 lines,
divided into 4 stanzas of six lines. Each stanza consists of
three rhyming couplets, following a simple rhyme scheme of
‘AABBCC.’
Summary
• The poem ‘The Bangle Sellers’ by Sarojini Naidu revolves
around bangles and bangle sellers. It describes the stages in
the life of a woman as well as the life of bangle sellers.
The speaker of the poem is one of the bangle sellers who are
selling bangles at the temple fair. They call out to the people
passing by and urge them to buy bangles for their daughters
and wives. In the second, third, and fourth stanzas, they
describe the bangles of different colors they have to match the
woman of different age groups. The different colors meant for
different stages of life indicate the importance given to bangles
in the life of Indian women in Indian Culture and Tradition.
Themes and settings
• Sarojini Naidu’s ‘The Bangle Sellers’ touches upon the theme of Indian
culture and people. Like her poems, it is also set on Indian settings and
depicts a temple fair where the bangle sellers sell their bangles. The
theme of the poem revolves around the “bangles” and the role of bangles
in each stage of a women’s life.
Key thoughts –
The entire poem is a tribute to Indian women and their beauty and grace.
It is a celebration of their femininity or female form. It threads various
stages of a woman’s life and into the cultural wealth of India. It also
acknowledges the part of bangle sellers in the customs and traditions of
India
Stanza 1
• Bangle sellers are we who bear
Our shining loads to the temple fair...
Who will buy these delicate, bright
Rainbow-tinted circles of light?
Lustrous tokens of radiant lives,
For happy daughters and happy wives.
Stanza 2
• Some are meet for a maiden's wrist,
Silver and blue as the mountain mist,
Some are flushed like the buds that dream
On the tranquil brow of a woodland stream,
Some are aglow with the bloom that cleaves
To the limpid glory of new-born leaves
AFL
1.Where are the bangle sellers going to sell their bangles and
why?
2.How are the bangles described in the 1 st stanza?
3.What colours of the bangle are meant for maidens? What do
the colours symbolize?
1.The bangle sellers are going to the temple fair to sell their bangles to women of different age groups.
2.The bangles described here are delicate, bright, colorful, and shiny like a rainbow.
3.Silver, blue, rosy, and leaf green are the colors of the bangles meant for maidens. While silver is the
symbol of purity and brightness, blue symbolizes emotional intensity and depth, rosy and red and leaf-
green colours are symbols of beauty and freshness, respectively.
Stanza 3
• Some are like fields of sunlit corn,
Meet for a bride on her bridal morn,
Some, like the flame of her marriage fire,
Or, rich with the hue of her heart's desire,
Tinkling, luminous, tender, and clear,
Like her bridal laughter and bridal tear.
Stanza 4
• Some are purple and gold flecked grey
For she who has journeyed through life midway,
Whose hands have cherished, whose love has blest,
And cradled fair sons on her faithful breast,
And serves her household in fruitful pride,
And worships the gods at her husband's side.
AFL
• 1. What does the simile ‘the flame of her marriage life’ suggest about
the colour of some bangles? Which phrases used in these lines tell you
about the life of a married woman?
• 2. Discuss the use of colour imagery used in stanza 4.
Poetic Devices
• Simile
In the second stanza, while describing the colors suitable for
young maidens she uses the similes “Silver and blue as the
mountain mist” and “Some are flushed like the buds that dream.”
Again, in the third stanza too, the poet compares the colors of
bangle for a bride to the “fields of sunlit corn,” and “flame of her
marriage fire.” The simile used in the last line of the third stanza
“bridal laughter and bridal tear” comprises the joy and sorrow of
getting married.
Metaphors
• In the first stanza she addresses the bangles as “Rainbow-

tinted circles of light,” and the heaviness of their life and the
bangle is called “shining loads.” In the second stanza, the
young maiden’s are compared to the “buds that bloom” to
picture the color “rosy-red.”
• Imagery
One could visualize the “mountain mist,” “buds that dream”, “new
born leaves” and “flame of her marriage fire” and the ‘tinkling’
sound. They beautifully describe the scene.
Alliteration
Alliteration is a poetic device denotes the consonant sounds that

are repeated in two or more words in a sentence. In this poem,
we could see that the sound ‘h’ is repeated in two lines that are
located next to or near each other. “Or, rich with the hue of her
heart’s desire” and “Whose hands have cherished, whose love
has blest”.
Rhetorical Questions
“Who will buy these delicate, bright/ Rainbow-tinted circles of
light?”

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Bangle Sellers by Sarojini Naidu

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The Bangle Sellers by Sarojini Naidu

Read the poem silently

• In the first stanza she addresses the bangles as “Rainbow-

Alliteration is a poetic device denotes the consonant sounds that

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