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The Bangle Sellers
Sarojini Naidu
About Sarojini Naidu
Sarojini Naidu was born on February 13, 1879 in Hyderabad. She was also known as 'Bharatiya Kokila' or 'the Nightingale of India'. She was a child prodigy, freedom fighter, and poet. She began writing at the age of 12 and published her first collection of poems called The Golden Threshold at the age of 26. She served as the President of the Indian National Congress. She was also the first woman to become the governor of an Indian state. She died on March 2, 1949 in Lucknow.
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.
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 was blest,
Are cradled fair sons on her faithful breast,
And serves her household in fruitful pride,
And worships the gods at her husband's side.
Available Answers
- 1.
Are the following statements about the poem you read true or false?
- The bangle sellers are carrying loads of bangles to sell outside the temples.
- Some of the bangle sellers are also selling rainbows.
- The bangles bought by happy daughters and wives are signs of their happy lives.
- The unmarried maidens often choose silver or blue bangles.
- The bride wears golden yellow bangles that remind one of mountain mist.
- The poet describes the middle-aged women as proud of their family.
- 2.
"Lustrous token of radiant lives."
- What are the tokens?
- How does he describe these 'tokens'?
- Who would wear these lustrous tokens? What are they a sign of?
- 3.
"Some are flushed like the buds that dream
On the tranquil brow of a woodland stream"- What is that is 'flushed'? Who bring these?
- Where do the buds dream?
- How does the word 'tranquil' make you feel?
- 4.
How are women described in this poem? What ideas can you add to the descriptions?
- 5.
After reading the poem, say what you feel about the role bangles play in the lives of the women.
- 6.
Metaphors are the implied comparison of two unlike things which have one or more similar features. It does not use the word 'like' and 'as' for comparison.
For example: Time is money.
Can you find two examples of metaphors from the poem?
2 more answer(s) available.