Bangle Sellers

By- Sarojini Naidu

• Sarojnii Naidu has earned for herself the sobriquet(unofficial title) of ‘The Nightingale of India’.
•She was a child prodigy an Indian independence activist and poet.
• Naidu was the first Indian woman to become the President of the Indian National Congress and the first
•woman to become the Governor of Uttar Pradesh state.
• She was a great patriot, politician, orator and administrator.
•Her major contribution has however been in the field of poetry.
• Her poetry has beautiful words that can also be sung.
•She even got recognition as the "Bul Bule Hind" when her collection of poems was published in 1905
•under the title Golden Threshold.
• After that, she published two other collections of poems--The Bird of Time and The Broken Wings.

•In 1918, Feast of Youth was published.

• Later, The Magic Tree, The Wizard Mask and A Treasury of Poems were published.
•Mahashree Arvind, Rabindranath Tagore and Jawaharlal Nehru were among the thousands of admirers
•of her work. Her poems had English words, but an Indian soul.
•Being one of the most famous women of the 20th century, her birthday is celebrated as "Women's Day”
•The poem "Bangle Sellers" was first published in the year 1912 by
Sarojini Naidu in her collection of poems called "The Bird of Time."
•The poem centres around bangles that form such an integral part
of an Indian woman’s life.
•The poem explores the imagery associated with bangles and the
defined roles of a woman in a traditionalist Indian social setting.
•Through the medium of the bangle seller Naidu is talking about
the symbolism of bangles and the colours that are associated and
hallmark every stage of her life.
•In this process, the speaker makes strong connections between
the bangles and their role in providing "happy daughters and
happy wives."
SIGNIFICANCE OF COLOURS

• Red Energy/Passion
• Blue Tranquillity/Wisdom
• Purple Independence
• Green Luck/Married Status
• Yellow Happiness
• Orange Success
• White New Beginnings
• Black Power
• Silver Strength
• Gold Fortune/Prosperity
First Stanza
´ 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.

´In the first stanza of ‘The Bangle Sellers’, the poet refers to
the bangle sellers who go to the temple fair. They carry their
“Shining loads,” representing the heaviness of life upon
them. It is made clear that they know that a temple fair is
where they get to meet women of every age. They call out to
the people to buy their bangles which are “delicate, bright,
Rainbow-tinted circles of light.” The Bangles here are called
as ‘lustrous tokens of radiant lives,‘ it relates to the Indian
custom of associating bangles with happiness and prosperity.
Stanza Two
´ 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 wth the bloom that cleaves
To the limpid glory of new born leaves

´In the second stanza of ‘The Bangle Sellers’ the poet talk of the bangles of
different colors, they have for young maidens. They are “Silver and Blue”
like “the mountain mist,” “flushed”, like the flower buds growing beside “a
woodland stream” and “green” like “new born leaves.” The poet using
“flushed like the buds that dream” to describe the color “pale or rosy red”
could be an indication of “shyness” of young girls dreaming of marriage.
´
Stanza Three
´ 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 the third stanza of ‘The Bangle Sellers,’ the poet talks of the bangles, that is worn
by brides on the day of their marriage. The colors of bridal bangles “Yellow” and
“Red” are compared to the “fields of sunlit corn,” “flame of her marriage fire,” and
the “hue of her heart’s desire.” The bangles are “tinkling, luminous, tender and
clear” like her “bridal laughter” of starting the new life and “bridal tear” of leaving
her parents behind. The final line of this stanza captures the
bittersweet transition of Indian women, leaving their family to her husband’s home
after marriage.
´
Stanza Four
´ 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.
´The final stanza of ‘The bangle Sellers,” describe the bangles the bangle sellers
have for a middle-aged married woman. The stanza gives insight into the image
of a complete woman in a patriarchal society, especially in the Indian context.
The ideal wife begets sons, serves her household in a fruitful way. She must
worship “gods at her husband’s side”. The colors of the bangles also not so
bright as in the previous stanzas. The bangles in “purple” and “gold-flecked
grey” represent a quiet contented life. The poet’s use of “cradled fair sons”
suggests the ingrained attitude of male preference in the time of Sarojini
Naidu’s times.
Form and Structure

‘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.’ It follows no particular metrical style. The poem
follows a definite structure. Of the four stanzas, the first stanza
serves as an introduction, while the three subsequent stanzas
deals, three important stages of a woman respectively.
Theme 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.
Identify the metaphor in the first stanza.

Who will buy these delicate, bright

Rainbow-tinted circles of light?
Lustrous tokens of radiant lives,
For happy daughters and happy wives.

“ For happy daughters and wives” shows the association of bangles

with the temperament and lives of women and young girls.

Sarojini Naidu has emphasised on the auspiciousness and the symbolic

value of the custom of wearing bangles by repeating "happy." The
'happy' daughters look forward to their marital bliss while the 'happy'
wives find content and glory in the fulfilment which is a result of their
marital status.
The bangles are of many colours. However,
each stage in an Indian woman's life is
described in a lyrical manner and accordingly
the colour of the bangle suitable to that stage
is ascribed :
the following three stanzas explore the
three stages in the life of an Indian
woman –

a virgin maiden,
an expectant bride
a mature matriarch of her household.
Sarojini Naidu very poetically describes the
longings of an Indian woman according to each
stage of her life: the virgin maiden is carrying in her
heart countless dreams of her future married life
and she is compared to a "bud that dreams."
The young bride is described as brimming
and glowing with passionate desire
although she is nervous and
apprehensive about what the future
holds as she stands on the anvil of a
new life as she prepares to leave her
parental home –
In the last stanza the poet describes the road
traversed by this young girl who is now a woman
and the matriarch of her husband’s household
and who has attained fulfilment by successfully
rearing her sons - "serves her house in fruitful
pride -" and hence feels that she has dispelled
all her duties well and now takes her rightful
place by the side of her husband in all the
domestic religious rituals.
What does the phrase signify
“bridal laughter and bridal tear"

The phrase captures the emotional turmoil of

a woman on the threshold of a new life
 Activity
Write one sentence caption to summarise each stanza
of the poem.