The Bangle Sellers by Sarojini Naidu (Class 9A)

Before you begin with this lesson please read the poem once and view the 2 short videos shown here. They will give you an idea about what the poem is about

  https://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-bangle-sellers/


Line by line explanation:

Stanza 1:

Bangle sellers are we who bear

Our shining loads to the temple fair…

‘shining loads’-  the weight of the shining bangles

Bear- to be able to carry the weight of something heavy.

The poem is narrated by a group of bangle sellers. Traveling salesmen (or hawkers) who are carrying their ‘Shining loads’ (many shiny bangles) to be sold at a temple fair. Here, the poet also shows the reader that she wishes to show readers one aspect of Indian culture. Hawkers

Who will buy these delicate, bright

Rainbow-tinted circles of light?

‘rainbow-tinted circles of light’- a way of describing the many coloured bangles the bangle-seller is selling.

Tinted- a colour or variety of colour.

The bangle sellers call out to the people of the temple fairs to buy these delicate rainbow coloured bangles. While the statement looks like a question it is actually a chant urging people at the temple fair to buy these beautiful bangles.

Lustrous tokens of radiant lives,

For happy daughters and happy wives.

‘lustrous’- radiant; bright

Tokens- gifts, symbolic objects

Radiant- bright with joy, hope, etc.

They urge the people to buy the bangles and promote them as gifts. These gifts are intended to be given to people’s wives and daughters, reflecting the happiness of these women.

Stanza 2:

Some are meet for a maiden's wrist,

Meet - suitable

Maiden- a young girl, generally who is not married.

The poet uses the bangles as symbols of the importance of the women who wear them. In this stanza, the bangles are worn by a young girl. The use of nature speaks of her youth and innocence and the bangles are very simple and light in colours like colours found in nature. This stanza describes the style and colours of bangles worn by young girls.

Silver and blue as the mountain mist,

Some are flushed like the buds that dream

On the tranquil brow of a woodland stream,

Flushed- a blushing rosy glow.

Tranquil- peaceful

Some bangles are silver and blue like the early morning mist on the mountain. Some are the red colour of a bud. The bud symbolizes a young girl who has not ‘blossomed’ or grown into a woman yet. The words ‘bud that dreams’ refers to a young girl who had dreams for the future of things such as who she will be or what she will do when she grows up. The bangles are described as being as beautiful as the flowers that grow on the peaceful banks of a stream in the woods.

Some are aglow with the bloom that cleaves

To the limpid glory of newborn leaves

Aglow - glowing

Cleaves- clings or sticks to

Limpid- clear or crystalline

Some bangles glow with the bright blooming the delicate green colour of new leaves that have just grown on a plant.  

 

Stanza 3:

Some are like fields of sunlit corn,

Meet for a bride on her bridal morn,

Some bangles are the bright yellow gold colour of sunlit corn and refer to the gold bangles worn by a bride on her wedding day.

Some, like the flame of her marriage fire,

Or, rich with the hue of her heart's desire,

Hue- Colour

Some bangles are the bright red colour of the marriage fire. This line also makes a reference to a traditional Hindu wedding ceremony where a couple becomes married by walking around a ritual fire. These bangles are red in colour, which represents love and happiness. Red bangles are traditionally worn by young brides during their marriage.

Tinkling, luminous, tender, and clear,

Like her bridal laughter and bridal tear.

‘luminous’- emitting light

‘tinkling’- a sound made by bangles or any glass objects when struck against each other lightly

The bangles make a gentle ringing sound when worn on the wrist and are bright and beautiful. They are as beautiful as the happiness of a bride on her wedding day. She is happy on her wedding (bridal laughter) day to have gained a new family and sad at the same (bridal tear) time because she has to leave her own family.

Stanza 4

Some are purple and gold flecked grey

For she who has journeyed through life midway,

Fleck - a small bit, a speck

As the young woman has become a middle aged woman, who has a family and grown sons of her own, the bangles she wears have changed in colour and pattern. Some of them are purple and some are grey with tiny shimmery pieces of gold in the glass. The darker purple colour is meant to her matuity and independence. The grey symbolises all the sorrows she has endured and the gold pieces reflect all the joys she has experienced. These bangles are meant for a woman who is middle aged. Representing the journey of her life so far.

Whose hands have cherished, whose love has blest,

And cradled fair sons on her faithful breast,

Cherished - to hold close and love, treat as dear to someone

Cradled- to hold gently or protectively

Faithful breast- hold lovingly to a space close to one’s heart

She has loved and cared for her family. Not only by showing her love but by the hard work of looking after her family. She has carried her sons at her chest, close to her heart. It is because of this mother’s love that they have grown up to be decent and good men.

And serves her household in fruitful pride,

And worships the gods at her husband's side.

Fruitful- producing good, beneficial results.

All the effort she has put in at home has been beneficial. A mother ensures that her family is looked after. Fathers and children are able to go to school or work and accomplish great things only because they have a mother who looks after them. She takes pride in looking after her home. She prays for her family and worships god at his side. The last line of this poem shows how infront of God she is at her husband's side. Showing she is equal to him in the eyes of God.

Poetic or Literary Devices (figures of speech)

‘Rainbow tinted circles of light’- A metaphor is used to show how colours of the bangles are like to the colours of the rainbow. How the light reflected by the bangles gives it the appearance of being made of light.

Simile and imagery

‘Silver and blue as the mountain mist’- When the words like or as are used it is generally considered a simile where the colour of the bangle is compared to the mist of mountains.

Some are flushed like the buds that dream…stream’- this is an example of an imagery as well as simile. Imagery is basically the use of words to create pictures. .

‘Some are aglow with the bloom that cleaves/ To the limpid glory of newborn leaves ’-  This imagery represents the bangles by comparing them to the transparent beauty of the new leaves.

Some are like fields of sunlit corn’-  Here the simile is used to make a link between the yellow corn fields  in sunlight and the yellow or gold coloured bangles.

‘Some, like the flame of her marriage fire/ Or rich with the hue of her heart’s desire’- This is also a simile showing the symbolic love and happiness of a new bride.

‘Tinkling, luminous, tender and clear/ like her bridal laughter and bridal tear’- The tinkling sound (onomatopoeia: where saying a word creates a sound of the word) of the bangles is compared to a young bride’s laughter and the luminosity of the bangles is likened to her tears.

Alliteration:

Or, rich with the hue of her heart’s desire

Some are meet for a maiden’s wrist

Alliteration creates music in a poem

Themes:

1)    The poem speaks about two things. The lives of the bangle sellers and the women of India at various stages of their lives.

2)    The first stanza deals with the bangle sellers. Telling us about their profession and how they survive or make money for themselves. In Spite of the fact that they do not seem wealthy they are not shown as miserable. In Fact they are shown as singing and joyful and proud to make a living by selling beautiful bangles.

3)    Bangles of any colour in the Indian tradition are symbolic of happiness and prosperity.

4)    The second stanza speaks of how simple, light coloured bangles represent the beauty and innocence of a young girl.

5)    The third stanza shows us a picture of a bride on her wedding day. The bangles here are symbolic of love and happiness and speak about how a girl has grown into a woman ready to leave behind her childhood and start a new life with her husband.

6)    The fourth stanza represents the middle-aged woman. She has endured many hardships for her family but has also experienced joy and happiness.

7)    As the girl grows the pattern of the bangles change and become more complicated to reflect the changes in her life.

8)    The poem shows us that a woman, at whatever stage of her life is a source of happiness as well as the backbone of a family.

Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:        16marks

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.

1. What is meant by the phrase ‘shining loads’? Where are the bangle sellers going to sell their bangles? For what purpose are they being sold?                (3)

Ans. In this stanza, ‘shining loads’ means the various types of bright and colorful bangles that the bangle sellers carry.

The bangle sellers are going to the temple fair.

They are going to sell their bangles to women and perhaps to people who will present these bangles as gifts to women or young girls.

2. Who are the narrators of this poem? Who are the buyers suggested here? Describe the bangles mentioned in this extract.                                                 (3)

Ans. The narrators of this poem are the bangle sellers themselves.

The buyers suggested here are happy daughters and wives.

The bangles described here are delicate, bright, colorful like a rainbow, and shining.

3. What do the expressions ‘shining loads’, ‘delicate, bright rainbow-tinted circles of light’ and ‘lustrous tokens of radiant lives’ imply?                                                (3)

Ans. These metaphors describe their features like brightness, softness and colourfulness that makes them catchy and fascinating. Due to these features, the bangles are a symbol of positivity, happiness, beauty and hope.  They are not just objects of cosmetic value worn by women on their wrists.

4. Explain, with the use of two illustrations from the poem, how the poet uses her descriptive skills to present facts.                                                          (3)

Ans. In this extract, the poet touches upon the popularity of bangles not merely as an ornament, but also as a deep-rooted cultural symbol that allows them a kind of freedom in terms and buying and choosing something according to their own preferences. The extract also suggests that temples, apart from being the centers of spiritual activities, may also account for economic activities in the form of purchase and sale of different items and goods used by people.

5. Give the relevance of the role of bangle sellers in a traditional Indian set-up, according to this extract?                                                                                           (4)

Ans. Bangle sellers are a community of people who can be easily spotted. The bangles they sell are a distinctive mark of womanhood and femininity in India’s culture and traditions. They also symbolize an old and culturally established practice associated with women in traditional Indian society. Thus, bangle sellers can be regarded as people who are responsible for maintaining an old tradition, which in turn lends uniqueness to womanhood.