SAROJINI
NAIDU 
About the author:
Sarojini Naidu war born on February 13, 1879, in Hyderabad, India in a Bengali family as Sarojini Chattopadhyay.
She was a poet, freedom-fighter, activist, orator and administrator.
Naidu was educated in Madras, then at King's College, London and later Girton College, Cambridge, with a scholarship from the Nizam of Hyderabad.
She embraced Mahatma Gandhi's philosophy of swaraj and became his devoted follower.
She was the first female president of the Indian National Congress appointed in 1925.
She played a crucial role in the Indian independence movement against the British Raj.
She was the first Governor of United Provinces (now Uttar Pradesh), after India's independence.
Naidu's poetry earned her the nickname "Nightingale of India" or ‘Bharat Kokila’ by Mahatma Gandhi.
Published in 1912, "In the Bazaars of Hyderabad" is still one of her most popular poems.
Naidu died in Lucknow on 2 March 1949.
Naidu’s birthday that is 13th
February is celebrated as “National Women’s Day”in India.
About the Poem: The poem “The Bangle Sellers” was published in the book “The Bird of Time” in 1912. “The Bangle Sellers” is a lyrical poem written in Four Stanzas of Six line each and the rhyme scheme is ‘AABBCC’. In each of the four stanzas, different colored bangles are used as symbols to depict the various phases in the life of a traditional Indian woman.
The First Stanza
Speakers introduce themselves and state their destination.
The Second Stanza (Maiden Stage of Woman)
Silver and Blue Colors (like Mountain Mist) = purity and virginity of women
Green Color (like the new born leaves) = transparent, clear, and fresh
The Third Stanza (Bridal Stage of Woman)
Yellow and Red Colors (like fields of sunlit corn and burning desire)
The Fourth Stanza (Middle Age of Woman)
Purple = Pride and Prosperity
Gold-Flecked= honor and authority
Gray Color= maturity, wisdom, and loyalty
The Bangle sellers
—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 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 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.
Figures of Speech used in the poem (कविता में प्रयुक्त अलंकार):
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Figures of Speech (भाषा के अलंकार) |
Lines from The Poem |
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Simile (उपमा): A simile compares two unlike things using "like" or "as". (उपमा दो विपरीत चीजों के बीच तुलना है जिसमें "जैसा"/” तरह” शब्दों का उपयोग किया जाता है।) Example: 1. Laxman walks like a lion. 2. Tom eats like a pig. Here: Laxman (Human) Lion (Animal) |
1. Silver and blue as the mountain mist, 2. Some are flushed like the buds that dream
3. Some are like fields of sunlit corn, 4. Some, like the flame of her marriage fire
5. Like her bridal laughter and bridal tear. |
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Metaphor (रूपक): Metaphor is the art of comparing two totally different things without using "like" or "as". (रूपक दो भिन्न चीज़ों के बीच संबंध स्थापित करते हैं। “जैसा"/” तरह” शब्दों का उपयोग किए बिना।) Example: 1. Laxman is a lion. 2. Tom is a pig. |
1. Our shining loads… 2. Rainbow-tinted circles of light? 3. Lustrous tokens of radiant lives, |
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Alliteration (अनुप्रास): Alliteration is the term given to the repetition of the same sound or letter (Consonant Sound) at the beginning of words in a phrase. (किसी वाक्यांश में शब्दों की शुरुआत में एक ही व्यंजन ध्वनि या अक्षर की पुनरावृत्ति को अनुप्रास कहते हैं I) Example: 1. Pooja prays for Pappu. (repeats the letter P) |
1. “Or, rich with hue of her heart’s desire” 2. “Whose hands have cherished, whose love has blest” 3. "Tinkling, luminous, tender, and clear" 4. For happy daughters and happy wives.
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Imagery (चित्रात्मक): This figure of speech makes readers to visualize the writer’s feelings, emotions, or ideas. ( यह अलंकार लेखक की भावनाओं या विचारों को समझने के लिए पाठकों को कल्पना कराता है I) |
1. “the mountain mist” 2. “buds that dream” 3. “new born leaves” |
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Personification ( मनुष्यगुणारोप/ मानवीकरण)): Personification is a literary device that humanizes inanimate objects for imagery. Example: 1. The sky is crying. 2. The moon looked down to me. |
1. “buds that dream” |
Multiple-Choice Questions:
1. Who is the poet of "The Bangle Sellers"?
a) William Wordsworth
b) Rabindranath Tagore
d) R K Narayan
Answer: c) Sarojini Naidu
2. When was Sarojini born?
b) 12 February 1779
c) 11 February 1879
d) 14 February 1779
Answer: a) 13 February 1879
3. When did Sarojini Naidu die? [2023]
a) 02 March, 1949
b) 18 June, 1948
c) 20 July, 1953
d) 03 November, 1955
Answer: a) 02 March, 1949
4. Where did Sarojini Naidu die? [2023]
a) Vijayawada
b) Golconda
c) Secunderabad
Answer: d) Lucknow
5. What was Sarojini Naidu’s original name? [2023]
a) Padmini Gangopadhyay
b) Sarojini Chattopadhyay
c) Aparna Chattopadhyay
d) Sarojini Bandyopadhyay
Answer: b) Sarojini Chattopadhyay
6. In which region did Sarojini Naidu hold the position of Governor? [2023]
a) United Provinces
b) Coorg
c) Vindhya Pradesh
d) Mysore
Answer: a) United Provinces
7. In which collection of poems is "The Bangle Sellers" included?
a) The Golden Threshold
b) The Broken Wing
c) The Bird of Time
d) Songs of Life
Answer: c) The Bird of Time
8. What is the mood of the poem "The Bangle Sellers"?
a) Sorrowful
b) Joyful and celebratory
c) Angry
d) Reflective
Answer: b) Joyful and celebratory
9. What do the bangles symbolize in the poem?
a) Wealth
b) Freedom
c) Tradition and customs
d) Power
Answer: c) Tradition and customs
10. In what literary format is "The Bangle Sellers" composed?
a) Sonnet
b) Haiku
c) Lyric
d) Ballad
Answer: c) Lyric
11. How many stanzas are there in "The Bangle Sellers"?
a) Three
b) Four
c) Five
d) Six
Answer: b) Four
12. Where are the bangle sellers heading towards: [2023]
a) Temple Fair
b) Market
c) Shops
d) Street
Answer: a) Temple Fair
13. The________are called “lustrous tokens of radiant lives”
a) mountains
b) rainbow
c) stream
d) bangles
Answer: d) bangles
14. The potential buyers for the bangles are:
a) son and daughter
b) husband and wife
c) Happy daughters and wives
(d) Happy mother and son
Answer: c) Happy daughters and wives
15. Name the figure of speech in the line, “Rainbow-tinted circles of light” [2023]
a) Alliteration
b) Metaphor
c) Imagery
d) Simile
Answer: b) Metaphor
16. __________coloured bangles are suitable for maiden’s wrist: [2023]
a) Silver and golden coloured bangles
b) Silver and black coloured bangles
c) Both a and b
Answer: d) None of these
17. Which stage of woman’s life represent the silver, blue and pink bangles: [2023]
a) Motherhood
b) Matriarchy
c) Maidenhood
d) None of these
Answer: c) Maidenhood
18. _________refers the happiness and blissfulness of newly wed bride: [2023]
b) Silver
c) Blue
d) None of these
Answer: a) Pink
19. What do the gold-flecked gray bangles signify?
a) Youth and energy
b) Purity and innocence
c) Maturity and wisdom
d) Sorrow and loss
Answer: c) Maturity and wisdom
20. What is a primary theme of the poem?
a) The oppression of women
b) The passage of time in a woman’s life
c) The power of nature
d) The struggle for independence
Answer: b) The passage of time in a woman’s life
21.The phrase "Bridal laughter and bridal tear" implies
a) bride's madness
b) bride's sadness
c) bride's mixed emotion
d) bride's desire
Answer: c) bride's mixed emotion
22. Purple and grey bangles represent___.
a) beauty and purity
b) loyalty and maturity
c) happiness and peace
d) love and desire
Answer: (b) loyalty and maturity
23. The fourth stanza shows a woman's dedication to-
a) her mother
b) her husband
c) her daughter
d) her sons
Answer: (b) her husband
24. The desire of a bride is depicted through the symbol of:
a) tranquil brow of a woodland stream
b) fields of sunlit corn
c) flame of her marriage fire
d) new born leaves
Answer: c) flame of her marriage fire
25. In the poem "The Bangle Sellers", bangles are token of-
a) dull lives
b) radiant lives
c) sorrowful lives
d) modern lives
Answer: b) radiant lives
26. The term 'Our' in the phrase 'Our shining loads to the temple fair' signifies whom?
a) the poetess
b) the readers
c) the women
d) the bangle sellers
Answer: d) the bangle sellers
27. The word 'Lustrous' means-
a) shining
b) dazzling
c) sparkling
d) all of these
Answer: d) all of these
28. What do Bangles bring to women's lives?
a) colour
b) happiness
c) pride
d) peace
Answer: b) happiness
29. What imagery describes the bangles on a "maiden's wrist"?
a) Sunlit cornfields
b) Woodland streams
c) Mountain mist
d) Newborn leaves
Answer: c) Mountain mist
30. Sarojini Naidu's poetry is renowned for its-
a) Political themes
b) Romantic and lyrical quality
c) Modernist approach
d) Philosophical themes
Answer: b) Romantic and lyrical quality
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