Bangle Sellers by Sarojini Naidu

1. Mahatma Gandhi Arts, Science & Late N. P. Commerce College,
Armori, Dist. Gadchiroli
Class :- B. A. – II ( Sem. – IV )
Subject :- Compulsory English
Topic :- ‘Bangle Sellers’
- Sarojini Naidu
- Prepared By -
Asst. Prof. Anil P. Raut

2. Bangle Sellers
-Sarojini Naidu
About the Poet:-
Sarojini Naidu (1879-1949) was known as the ‘nightingale of India’ because of the poetic
lyrics that she wrote. She belonged to an illustrious Bengali family. Sarojini Naidu imbibed
the ethos of Bengal and of Hyderabad. She was also a great politician, orator and
administrator. She was deeply involved in the freedom struggle and was a trusted
ambassador of Mahatma Gandhi. She tried to blend Indian and English sensibilities in her
poetry, which is lyrical and musical. Not only that, but she was truly one of the jewels of the
world. Being one of the most famous heroines of the twentieth century, her birthday is
celebrated as 'Women's Day’

3. About the Poem:-
‘Bangle Sellers’ is a popular lyric along with ‘Palanquin Bearers' and 'Coromandel Fishers’
which was published in the 1912 collection of poetry called The Bird of Time: Songs of Life,
Death and the Spring. The poem depicts a group of Bangle Sellers who wander from town to
town to sell their inventory. One of them becomes the narrator or the speaker of the poem.
Theme:-
This poem is a tribute to Indian women and their beauty and grace. It is a celebration of their
female character. It threads together the different stages of a woman’s life into the cultural
wealth of India. This poem also acknowledges the part of bangle sellers in the custom and
tradition of India.

4. Bangle Sellers
- Sarojini Naidu
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.
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

5. 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.
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.

6. Explanation:-
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.
At the beginning of the poem, the bangle sellers are introduced and the poem describes their
everyday life as well. The bangle sellers are present at the temple fair to make a trade for their
bangles and are calling out to people to buy them. They are praising the qualities of bangles
using the adjectives like bright, delicate and rainbow-tinted thereby intending the people to
buy for their daughters and wives. Bangles are bought on special occasions and are considered
a symbol of happy lives of Indian womanhood. The bangle sellers say that these bangles
promise happy lives to the wearer and are tokens (sign) of happy lives and happy marriages.

7. 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
In the second stanza, the bangle-sellers are talking about the different kinds of bangles that they have which
cater to different types of women. Some of these bangles are suited for a maiden’s wrist who is an unmarried
girl or a young woman and they are silver and blue in colour. Here silver and blue colours are compared to the
mountain mist and they represent the freshness and the beauty of young maidens.
Some bangles are light red and pink in colour just like tender flower buds that are found blossoming along a
woodland stream. In this stanza, ‘buds that dreams’ presents an image of young girls who are dreaming of
marriage. The bangle sellers also have some green coloured bangles which are compared to the ‘new born
leaves’ because such leaves are pure, fresh and yet to see the world just like the maiden.
This stanza shows the youthful stage in a woman’s life and represents the fact different coloured bangles are
worn by women in different phases of their life in Indian society.

8. Explanation:-
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.
In this stanza, the bangles sellers say that they have some yellow-coloured bangles that look like fields of
sunlit corn. Here bangles are compared to ‘fields of sunlit corn’ because those bangles are suitable for a
bride on the day of her wedding when she needs to look the prettiest and the brightest of all. The bangle
sellers also have some flame-coloured bangles such as red and orange that represent the passion, desire
and wishes of the bride. In the poem, bridal laughter means the joy of starting a new life with her
husband while bridal tear means sorrow of separation from her parents. The poet has compared bridal
laughter and bridal tear with the tinkling, luminous, tender and clear bangles which seem to express her
joy and sorrow well. So, this stanza depicts the transition of life from a maiden to a wife.

9. Explanation:-
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.
In this stanza, the bangle sellers continue to advertise their bangles and say that they have
some purple and gold-flecked grey bangles. These bangles are suitable for a woman who has
journeyed through life and has reached the mid-point of her life. These are for a woman who
remained faithful to her husband, supported him and has raised her children well. The purple
colour symbolizes pride, gold-fleck represents honour and authority whereas grey symbolizes
wisdom and maturity.

10. Thank
You