Bangle Sellers: Context and Summary:

Bangle Sellers: Context and Summary:

Context

Sarojini Naidu, better known as the Nightingale of India, was born in Hyderabad in 1879. Her literary career, which began at the age of 12, comprises mainly her poetry. The Golden Threshold, The Bird of Time and The Broken Wing are among her most famous works.

Her poems have a folk-like quality, mostly describing the everyday lives of ordinary people. The liberal use of imagery, symbolism and lyricism make her poetry unique. She also often used her literary talent to rouse the people of India against British rule. Naidu's poem The Bangle Sellers is from the book The Bird of Time. It appears to be a simple description of the different bangles being sold by bangle sellers. But, on a deeper level, the poem is a symbolic representation of the various phases in a woman's life.

Summary

Here is a summary of the poem The Bangle Sellers by Sarojini Naidu.

The speakers of the poem are the bangle sellers themselves. In the first stanza of the poem, they tell us that they carry their wares to the temple fairs to sell them. They call out to the people to purchase the bright, multicoloured bangles for their wives and daughters. In their opinion, the shining bangles add light to a woman's life and are symbols of her happiness.

In the second stanza, the bangle sellers tell us about the different shades of bangles that would suit young girls. According to them, blue and silver bangles, cool and refreshing like mountain mist, are ideal for young maidens' wrists. There are also light pink. or light red bangles, whose colour is like that of flower buds. Finally, there are bangles which look like blooming flowers clinging to fresh leaves. These bangles of more subtle shades of colour are deemed as more suitable for unmarried women who are yet to experience the variety of colours and shades that life will offer them as they journey through it.

The third stanza bears undeniable shades of celebration and festivity. Here, the bangle sellers describe the bangles they have on offer for brides or newly married women. These bangles are bright yellow like corn fields. Some are red, much like the sacred wedding fire, and the love and passion a bride experiences. Thus, these bangles reflect a bride's emotions. Their bright colours and the tinkling sounds they make resemble her laughter on her wedding day. They are also clear like the tears she sheds upon having to leave her parents' home.

In the final stanza of the poem, the sellers call out to people to purchase bangles for middle-aged women too. These bangles are a rich purple or grey with golden dots. They are fitting for women who have been loving, nurturing mothers and faithful wives. The final description is that of a mature Indian maternal figure, who has earned her colour and vibrancy as she has journeyed through life, and has come a long way from the maiden mentioned in the first stanza of the poem.