Bangle sellers Reference to the Context ICSE Class 9 & 10

Reference to the Context on “Bangle sellers” by Sarojini Naidu .

Treasure Trove Workbook Solution of ‘The Bangle Sellers’ by Sarojini Naidu is included in her collection of poems called The Bird of Time. The poem’s prior focus is on the social, religious and symbolic value of bangles in Indian culture.  The widows are not allowed to wear bangles whereas the newly weds wear bangles of different hues. Bangles are traditionally related to the life of an Indian woman and the poet captures this traditional essence very well.

PASSAGE 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.

Question i: Where are the bangle sellers going? Are they happy  and contented?

Ans: The bangle sellers are going to the temple to sell their bangles in order to earn some money. 

                                                   Yes, they are happy and contented even though they carried the loads of bangles. 

Question ii:  What do you mean by ‘Rainbow-tinted circles of light’? What kind of literary figure is it?

Ans: ‘Rainbow-tinted circles of light’ refers to colourful bangles. 

The literary figure used here is metaphor. 

Question  iii: What are these bangles for? Why has the poet repeated the word  ‘happy’ in the last line here?

Ans: The daughters wear these bangles who are expected to be married soon to express their happy longings. 

The word ‘happy’ is incorporated here to express their happiness and contentment in their marital lifetime. 

Question iv: What colours of bangles are preferred by virgin maidens?

Ans: The virgin maidens prefer bangles of silver and blue colour. 

Question v: What rhyme scheme is followed in the poem?

Ans: The rhyme scheme followed in each stanza is aabbcc. 

PASSAGE 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 

Question i: Who is the narrator? What has been described earlier?

Ans: The narrator is the poet, Sarojini Naidu. 

          Earlier in the poem, the bangle sellers selling multicolor bangles for the girls and wives who are happy to wear the bangles. 

Question ii: In which context is the expression ‘ the mountain mist’ used here?

Ans: In order to refer to the colour of the bangles, the expression ‘ the mountain mist’ is used in the poem. 

Question iii: How has the poet described pink bangles?

Ans:  The poet has described the pink bangles by comparing it to flushed buds floating on the calm stream of a forest stream. 

Question iv: Explain: Some are aglow with the bloom that cleaves /To the limpid glory of new born leaves. 

Ans: The given lines mean that Some of these bangles are shining green whose freshness is close to the vivid beauty of the newborn, tender leaves. 

Question v: How has the poet used colour imagery here?

Ans: The colour imagery is employed to beautifully describe the bangle sold by the sellers. The multicolor bangles are metaphorically described as ‘Rainbow tinted circles of light’; the virgin girls wearing bangles of blue and silver like that of mountain mist; pink bangles like that of flushed buds and green bangles are compared to green color of tender leaves. 

PASSAGE 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

Question i:  What hues of bangles are preferred by virgin maidens as told earlier in the context? Why?

Ans: The virgin girls prefer bangles of silver and blue colour for themselves. 

                                                     The maiden girls are expecting their longing for good married life of contentment. 

Question ii: Why does the bride have preference for yellow coloured bangles for her wedding morning?

Ans: The brides prefer yellow coloured bangles which look like corn fields. They are suitable for a bride on her marriage morning. 

Question iii: Why has the red colour of bangles been compared to the flame of the bride’s marriage fire?

Ans: The comparison of the red colour of bangles to the flame of the bride’s marriage fire is done to express the passion in her heart. 

Question iv:  Which literary device is used in the last two lines here?

Ans: Simile is the literary device or figure of speech used in the poem. 

Question v: Why does the poet refer to the ‘ bridal laughter’ and ‘ bridal tear’ simultaneously?

Ans: The wedding is the moment for both joy and pain in our lives. They are happy for their marriage and starting anda life but sad for departing from their parents, friends and familiar locale.