The Bangle

Sellers
A poem by 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 wth the bloom that cleaves
To the limpid glory of new born leaves
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.
 GENERAL
MEANING
The poem is about the life,
customs, and traditions of
women in India where
they use bangles, which is
an ornament for Indian
women.

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✘ The first stanza  describing the
situation of the merchants selling
bangles at the temple fair
✘ The consequent stanzas  focus on
bangles with various colors the sellers
have
✘ The poem has a simple rhyme aabbcc
for each stanza
✘ Each stanza describes different phases
in Indian women’s life
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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.
“
Figurative Language
✘ delicate, bright Rainbow-tinted circles
of light  Metaphor (an indirect
comparison)
✘ Lustrous tokens  symbolizes
happiness and prosperity

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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
“
Figurative Language & Imagery
✘ Silver and blue as the mountain mist,
Some are flushed like the buds that
dream  Simile (comparison using
‘as’ or ‘like’)
✘ ‘mountain mist’, ‘buds that dream’,
‘new born leaves’  visual imagery

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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,
“
Figurative Language & Imagery
✘ Some are like fields of sunlit corn, like
the flame of her marriage fire, like
the flame of her marriage fire 
Simile
✘ ‘flame of her marriage fire’  visual
imagery
✘ ‘Tinkling’  auditory imagery
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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,
“
Figurative Language & Imagery
✘ And cradled fair sons on her faithful
breast,
And serves her household in fruitful
pride,
And worships the gods at her
husband’s side  Anaphora (when a
number of lines begin with the same
word)
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Thank you!
Any questions?

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