Bangle Sellers (by Sarojini Naidu)

Bangle Sellers (by Sarojini Naidu) is a beautiful, well crafted, poem where the poetess provides insight into the lives of a certain class of people – bangle sellers who wander from place to place to sell their wares. One bangle-seller becomes the narrator of this poem. The Bangle Sellers’ was published in the 1912 collection of poetry called The Bird of Time: Songs of Life, Death and the Spring.

The poem explores the life of Indian women, the Indian culture and its various traditions, and nicely shows the significance of every colour and the different feelings each colour evokes at different stages in the life of a woman.

Full Poem

Here’s the full poem with explanation.

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.

The poem begins with the speaker introducing themselves as bangle sellers who often visit temple fair to sell their bangles. They ask people to buy bangles for their daughters and wives by highlighting the qualities of their bangles by using adjectives like delicate, bright, rainbow-tinted circles of light.

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
To the limpid glory of new born leaves.

From the second stanza onwards, the speakers talk about the kinds of bangles they are selling, and what makes them so special.

Bangles have always been an important part of Indian culture, and different coloured bangles are worn by women for different occasions and in different phases of their life.

In the second stanza, the bangle sellers talk about the various colours of bangles they are selling. say that bangles of silver and blue colours, resembling the mountain mist, are for young unmarried maiden’s wrist. Pink and light red colour bangles resemble flower buds blossoming near a woodland stream. The green coloured bangles glow like the transparent beauty of newborn leaves.

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,
Like her bridal laughter and bridal tear.

In the third stanza, the bangle sellers say that some of their bangles are coloured yellow like the ‘fields of sunlit corn’; these are perfect for a grown-up woman on her bridal morning. The bright red bangles are like the flame of the marriage fire (Hindu bridal ceremony) and reflect her passion for her new relation. The bangles are ‘tinkling, luminous, tender and clear’, similar to what a new bride feels about starting a new life with her husband. This is when a woman metamorphises from a maiden daughter to a wife. The use of the words ‘bridal laughter and bridal tears indicates that while a woman is happy to find a soul mate, she is also very sad to leave her parents home.

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,
And worships the gods at her husband’s side.

In the fourth (final) stanza, the Bangle Sellers continue to advertise their bangles and this time they talk about bangles that are purple and gold-flecked grey, perfect for middle-aged women who have ‘journeyed through life’, faced all the hardships and raised their children well, and has remained faithful to her husband and family. These bangles are perfect for such women who have fulfilled their household duties with pride and “worships the gods at her husband’s side”. In this stanza, the speakers extol the qualities of a good wife and mother.