The Bangle Sellers – Summary & Analysis

In Short

• Bangle sellers come to a temple fair carrying colorful bangles to sell
• They advertise their bangles as "delicate, bright, rainbow-tinted circles of light"
• The bangles are symbolic tokens representing the radiant lives of daughters and wives
• Different colored bangles represent different stages of a woman's life
• Silver and blue bangles are for maiden girls dreaming of marriage
• Bright, warm-colored bangles are for brides on their wedding day
• Purple and gold-flecked grey bangles are for mature women—wives and mothers
• The poem celebrates the various roles of women in Indian society through the symbolism of bangles

The Bangle Sellers – Line by Line Analysis

Stanza I (Lines 1-6): The Bangle Sellers and Their Call

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 opens with bangle sellers introducing themselves and their purpose. They describe themselves as bearers of "shining loads," carrying their bangles to a temple fair—a place of cultural and religious significance in Indian life. The repetition of "Bangle sellers are we" establishes the speakers' identity and social role. The phrase "shining loads" suggests both the physical weight of carrying many bangles and the symbolic weight of their cultural importance.

The sellers pose a rhetorical question: "Who will buy these delicate, bright / Rainbow-tinted circles of light?" This invites potential customers and emphasizes the visual beauty and appeal of the bangles. The description "rainbow-tinted circles of light" creates vivid imagery—the bangles are not merely material objects but visual poetry, appearing as circles of light in multiple colors. The bangles are then called "lustrous tokens of radiant lives," transforming them from simple ornaments into symbols of happiness and prosperity. The phrase "for happy daughters and happy wives" specifies the wearers and emphasizes that bangles are associated with joy and contentment in women's lives.

Stanza II (Lines 7-12): Bangles for Maiden Girls

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.

This stanza describes bangles suitable for young maiden girls. "Meet for a maiden's wrist" means appropriate for unmarried girls. The bangles are "silver and blue as the mountain mist," comparing their colors to the soft, ethereal appearance of mist on mountains. Silver and blue suggest purity, coolness, and the pristine nature of maidenhood. The colors evoke a sense of calm beauty and quietness.

Some bangles are "flushed like the buds that dream / On the tranquil brow of a woodland stream." The personification of buds that "dream" suggests the inner hopes and desires of the maiden—she dreams of love and marriage. The "tranquil brow" of the stream creates a peaceful, serene image. Other bangles "aglow with the bloom that cleaves / To the limpid glory of new born leaves." The image of new-born leaves, fresh and tender, represents the youthful, delicate nature of maiden girls. The word "limpid" means clear and transparent, suggesting innocence and purity. These natural comparisons elevate the maiden's simple ornaments into expressions of her connection with nature and her inner spiritual beauty.

Stanza III (Lines 13-18): Bangles for Brides

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.

This stanza presents bangles appropriate for brides on their wedding day. "Like fields of sunlit corn" compares bright, golden bangles to ripening grain in sunlight, suggesting warmth, richness, and fruitfulness. The bride is described as wearing these bangles "on her bridal morn"—a momentous occasion in her life. Some bangles are "like the flame of her marriage fire," using fire imagery to suggest the passion, heat, and transformation of marriage. Fire represents both the intensity of new love and the ritual significance of marriage ceremonies in Indian culture.

Other bangles are "rich with the hue of her heart's desire," suggesting deep red or passionate colors representing the bride's emotional and romantic longings. The bangles are described as "tinkling, luminous, tender, and clear"—each adjective contributes to a portrait of the wedding bangles. "Tinkling" suggests the musical sound bangles make, "luminous" emphasizes their brightness, "tender" conveys their delicate nature, and "clear" suggests their purity and clarity of color. These same bangles are "like her bridal laughter and bridal tear"—capturing the bittersweet emotions of marriage: joy and laughter mixed with tears of leaving her childhood home and family behind.

Stanza IV (Lines 19-24): Bangles for Mature Women

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.

The final stanza describes bangles for mature women—wives and mothers at the midpoint of their lives. These bangles are "purple and gold flecked grey," combining richer, more mature colors. Purple suggests dignity and wisdom; gold suggests prosperity and value; and grey suggests the passage of time and maturity. The flecking of gold among grey creates a beautiful image of inner richness within the outward markers of age.

The woman who wears these bangles "has journeyed through life midway"—she is established in her adult life. The description of her accomplishments reveals the ideal woman in a traditional Indian patriarchal society: "Whose hands have cherished, whose love has blest." Her hands are instruments of care and nurturing. She has "cradled fair sons on her faithful breast," emphasizing her role as a mother and the importance of bearing sons in traditional culture. The word "faithful" suggests her loyalty and devotion.

She "serves her household in fruitful pride" and "worships the gods at her husband's side." These lines reveal the expected roles of a married woman: household management and religious observance alongside her husband. The phrase "fruitful pride" suggests that she takes dignity and satisfaction in her domestic and maternal duties. The reference to worshiping gods alongside her husband emphasizes the spiritual and religious dimension of marriage and family life in Hindu culture. Though these lines describe a patriarchal structure where the woman's role is defined in relation to her husband and children, the poem presents these roles with dignity and celebration rather than resentment.

The Bangle Sellers – Word Notes

Bangle sellers: Merchants who sell bangles, typically at temple fairs and bazaars in India.

Shining loads: The weight of bangles being carried; "shining" refers to their bright, reflective quality.

Temple fair: A market or festival held at or near a temple, a place of cultural and religious gathering.

Rainbow-tinted: Colored in many colors like a rainbow; multihued and vibrant.

Circles of light: Metaphorical description of bangles that reflect and refract light.

Lustrous: Shining, glossy, and reflective; having a beautiful glow.

Tokens: Signs, symbols, or representatives; here meaning the bangles represent or embody something.

Radiant: Shining brightly; glowing with health, happiness, and beauty.

Maiden: A young, unmarried girl or woman.

Mountain mist: The ethereal fog that forms on mountain peaks; represents purity and ethereal beauty.

Flushed: Having a rosy color; blushing with emotion or feeling.

Buds: Young flowers not yet fully opened; symbolic of youth and potential.

Tranquil: Peaceful, calm, and undisturbed.

Brow: The forehead; here used poetically to mean the surface or edge.

Aglow: Glowing or shining with light or beauty.

Cleaves: Sticks or clings to; adheres closely.

Limpid: Clear and transparent; crystal clear in appearance or meaning.

Sunlit corn: Golden grain illuminated by sunlight; represents warmth, richness, and ripeness.

Bridal: Relating to a bride or wedding.

Marriage fire: The ritual fire in Hindu marriage ceremonies; symbolizes the sacred union.

Heart's desire: One's deepest wish or longing; what the heart truly wants.

Tinkling: Making light, clear ringing sounds.

Luminous: Emitting light; shining or glowing.

Tender: Soft, delicate, and fragile; also meaning affectionate and loving.

Bridal laughter and bridal tear: The mixed emotions of a bride—joy and sorrow intermingled.

Purple and gold flecked grey: Rich colors suggesting dignity, wisdom, prosperity, and maturity.

Journeyed through life midway: Reached the middle of one's life journey; matured and experienced.

Faithful breast: The mother's chest/heart as the source of faithful, devoted love (transferred epithet).

Fruitful pride: Pride taken in productive, meaningful accomplishments, especially bearing and raising children.

Publication

"The Bangle Sellers" by Sarojini Naidu was first published in 1912 as part of her poetry collection "The Bird of Time." The poem consists of four stanzas with six lines each (24 lines total), following an AABBCC rhyme scheme. Each stanza contains three rhyming couplets, creating a musical, song-like quality. Though written in English, the poem captures the essence of Indian culture, tradition, and women's experience in traditional society.

The poem has become one of Naidu's most celebrated and widely studied works in schools and colleges, particularly in Indian educational curricula. It is featured prominently in ICSE, CBSE, and other Indian examination boards' English literature syllabi. The poem's combination of lyrical beauty, cultural specificity, and rich symbolism makes it a favorite for literary analysis and study. It remains a powerful representation of Naidu's ability to elevate everyday Indian scenes into profound meditations on life, identity, and the human condition.

Context

Sarojini Naidu wrote "The Bangle Sellers" in the early 20th century, during a period of significant social change in India. The poem reflects the traditional roles of women in Indian society while simultaneously celebrating women's lives and contributions. Naidu, despite being a patriot and freedom fighter actively involved in India's independence struggle, chose to write about the intimate, domestic sphere of women's lives.

The poem is set in a temple fair, a place of religious and cultural significance in Hindu society. Temple fairs were—and remain—important social gathering places where people of different classes and backgrounds met, shopped, and engaged in ritual worship. The bangle seller was a familiar figure in Indian bazaars and fairs, calling out their wares to attract customers. By making bangle sellers the speakers of the poem, Naidu gives voice to ordinary people, particularly those of humble economic status. The poem captures a specific moment in Indian cultural life while also making universal statements about the human experiences of youth, marriage, maturity, and fulfillment.

Setting

The poem is set at a temple fair in India, likely in Hyderabad or another major Indian city where Naidu was familiar with bazaar life. The temple fair is a bustling, colorful place where people gather for religious purposes and commerce. This setting is important because it connects the spiritual and the material, the sacred and the commercial. Bangles are sold in this sacred space, suggesting their spiritual significance in Indian culture, particularly their association with Hindu marriage rituals and traditions.

The setting moves through space and time within the poem, even as the physical location remains the fair. The speakers (bangle sellers) mentally journey through the stages of a woman's life as they describe and sell their bangles—from maiden to bride to mother. Though the setting is external (the fair), the poem's true journey is internal and metaphorical, exploring the emotional and spiritual dimensions of women's lives at different ages. The fair becomes a microcosm of Indian society, where the transactions between sellers and buyers represent larger transactions of cultural values and traditions.

Title

"The Bangle Sellers" is a simple, direct title that names the poem's speakers and central figures. The bangle sellers are merchants who sell bangles—bracelets worn primarily by women in Indian culture. However, the title suggests much more than a simple transaction between seller and buyer. Bangles, particularly in Indian tradition, carry profound cultural, religious, and emotional significance, marking important transitions and roles in women's lives.

The title's simplicity belies the poem's complexity. By focusing on the bangle sellers rather than the buyers, the title emphasizes the agency and voice of working-class merchants, typically invisible in literature. These sellers become the poem's main speakers, inviting readers into their perspective and understanding. The plural "sellers" (rather than "seller") suggests community and collective voice—these are not individual merchants but representatives of a tradition of commerce and cultural transmission spanning generations. The title, therefore, works both literally (naming the poem's subjects) and metaphorically (suggesting the transmission of cultural values and traditions from one generation to another).

Form and Language

Sarojini Naidu wrote "The Bangle Sellers" as a lyric poem, a form that emphasizes personal emotion and sensory experience. The poem consists of four stanzas, each with six lines following an AABBCC rhyme scheme (three rhyming couplets per stanza). This structured, regular form gives the poem a song-like quality, appropriate for a poem featuring merchants calling out their wares. The regularity of form mirrors the regularity and tradition of women's roles in Indian society, while the lyrical beauty transforms these roles into something worthy of celebration and poetry.

Naidu's language is elevated and poetic, employing elaborate imagery and figurative language to describe simple objects. Bangles are compared to natural phenomena (mist, buds, corn, fire, leaves), elevating them from mere trinkets to symbols of natural beauty and cosmic significance. The language moves between concrete description (the bangles at the fair) and abstract symbolism (the meaning of bangles in women's lives). Naidu uses archaic and literary language ("tranquil brow," "limpid glory") that gives the poem a timeless quality, suggesting that these roles and traditions are eternal, rooted in deep cultural memory.

The language is also notably celebratory. Rather than critiquing women's traditional roles, Naidu uses her language to find dignity, beauty, and meaning within those roles. The word choices—"radiant," "lustrous," "luminous," "cherished," "faithful," "fruitful"—are all positive, honoring words. This has led to varying interpretations: some read the poem as a celebration of women's traditional roles, while others see it as a subtle or ironic commentary on the limitations imposed on women by patriarchal tradition. This ambiguity in tone is one of the poem's most interesting features.

Meter and Rhyme

The poem follows a consistent rhyme scheme of AABBCC (three rhyming couplets per stanza). Each stanza has six lines where lines 1-2 rhyme, lines 3-4 rhyme, and lines 5-6 rhyme. For example, in the first stanza: "bear/fair," "bright/light," and "lives/wives" are rhyming pairs. This pattern is maintained throughout all four stanzas, creating a sense of harmony, order, and predictability. The regular rhyming couplets give the poem a sing-song quality, reminiscent of traditional folk songs or merchants' calls.

The meter is approximately octasyllabic (eight syllables per line), though Naidu occasionally varies the number of syllables for emphasis or natural speech rhythm. The line length is generally consistent but flexible enough to accommodate natural phrasing and avoid sounding artificially constrained. For example: "Ban-gle SELL-ers are we WHO bear" (approximately 8 syllables). The regularity of meter combined with the flexible variations creates a poem that is both musical and conversational, sounding natural when read aloud while maintaining poetic beauty.

The combination of regular rhyme and consistent meter creates a poem that is highly memorable and musical. When read aloud, the poem has a rhythmic, chant-like quality appropriate for merchants calling out their wares at a fair. The musicality of the form reinforces the poem's content—bangles themselves produce tinkling, musical sounds, and the poem's form mirrors the auditory experience of hearing bangles and the merchants' calls at a fair.

The Bangle Sellers – Themes

Theme 1: The Stages of Women's Life

The primary theme of the poem is the progression of women's lives through distinct stages: maiden, bride, and mature wife/mother. Each stage is represented by different colored bangles, suggesting that bangles mark and celebrate these transitions. The poem presents these stages not as imprisoning restrictions but as important, celebrated identities. However, the poem remains ambiguous about whether it celebrates traditional roles or critiques the limited scope of women's identities as defined by their relationships to men (unmarried, married, mother). This ambiguity invites readers to consider both perspectives: the dignity and meaning women find in traditional roles, and the constraints those roles may impose.

Theme 2: The Spiritual and Cultural Significance of Ornaments

Bangles are presented not as mere decorative trinkets but as "lustrous tokens of radiant lives"—symbols of happiness, prosperity, and spiritual meaning. In Hindu tradition, bangles are worn by married women and are considered auspicious. The poem elevates these humble ornaments into objects of spiritual and cultural importance. Through the bangle sellers' poetic descriptions, ordinary commercial objects become vehicles for expressing profound truths about women's lives and Indian cultural values. The poem suggests that even the most humble aspects of material culture carry deep spiritual and emotional significance.

Theme 3: The Beauty and Poetry of Everyday Life

Through vivid nature imagery—comparing bangles to mountain mist, flower buds, corn fields, and marriage fire—the poem finds profound beauty in everyday objects and ordinary women's lives. Naidu transforms a simple temple fair scene into a poetic meditation on beauty, meaning, and human experience. The poem celebrates the everyday without sentimentalizing or dismissing it. Bangle sellers and the women who buy bangles are treated as worthy subjects of serious poetry, suggesting that all people and all aspects of life contain poetic potential.

Theme 4: The Cycles of Nature and Life

The poem employs extensive natural imagery—mist, buds, streams, leaves, corn, fire—connecting women's life stages to natural cycles and seasonal changes. This connection to nature suggests that women's roles are not arbitrary social constructions but natural progressions aligned with cosmic and natural order. Whether read as celebration or subtle critique, the poem uses nature imagery to situate women's lives within larger patterns of growth, transformation, and renewal that characterize all of existence.

Theme 5: The Voice of the Marginalized

By making bangle sellers the speakers of the poem, Naidu gives voice to people of humble economic status and those often invisible in literature. The bangle sellers are not wealthy or powerful, yet they are portrayed as wise observers of life and skilled poets describing human experience. This theme elevates marginalized voices and suggests that wisdom, beauty, and insight come not from the powerful and privileged but from those in intimate contact with ordinary people's lives and needs. The poem values the perspective of the working merchant.

The Bangle Sellers – Symbols

Symbol 1: Bangles

Bangles are the central symbol of the poem, representing women's lives, roles, and spiritual status in Indian culture. They symbolize marriage and are worn as signs of a woman's auspiciousness and good fortune. Different colored bangles represent different life stages and emotional states. Bangles also symbolize both the ornamental and the essential—they are beautiful decorations but also markers of important identity transitions. The bangles are sold at a fair, suggesting that women's roles and identities are commodities traded in the marketplace, a subtle comment on the commercialization of women's roles in patriarchal society. Yet the poem also celebrates bangles as "lustrous tokens of radiant lives," suggesting genuine value and beauty in what they represent.

Symbol 2: Colors (Silver, Blue, Red, Gold, Purple, Grey)

The various colors of bangles symbolize different emotional states and life stages. Silver and blue represent the coolness, purity, and dreamy quality of maidenhood. Red and gold represent the passion and warmth of bridal joy and new marriage. Purple and gold-flecked grey represent the dignity, wisdom, and richness of mature womanhood and motherhood. Colors function as a universal visual language communicating emotional and spiritual meaning. The progression from cool, pure colors to warm, passionate colors to rich, mixed colors suggests an arc of human experience and emotional development.

Symbol 3: The Temple Fair

The temple fair symbolizes the intersection of the sacred and the secular, the spiritual and the commercial. It is a place where religious ritual and material commerce coexist. The fair represents Indian society in miniature—a gathering place where people of all classes and ages meet. By setting the poem at a temple fair, Naidu suggests that the transactions and conversations about women's roles are not merely commercial or social but also spiritual and sacred. The fair represents the community space where cultural values are transmitted and celebrated.

Symbol 4: Natural Elements (Mist, Buds, Streams, Leaves, Fire)

The repeated comparisons of bangles and women to natural elements symbolize the connection between human life and the natural world. Mist suggests ethereal beauty and mystery; buds suggest youth and potential; streams suggest flowing movement and change; leaves suggest growth and renewal; fire suggests passion and transformation. By connecting women's lives to nature, the poem suggests that women's roles are aligned with natural patterns rather than arbitrary social constructions. Nature imagery also beautifies and elevates women's experiences, presenting them as manifestations of natural and cosmic order.

Symbol 5: Light and Shine

The repeated references to light—"shining loads," "circles of light," "luminous," "aglow," "sunlit," "flame," "lustrous"—symbolize happiness, spiritual illumination, and beauty. Light suggests hope, vitality, and the presence of the divine. The bangles' ability to catch and reflect light makes them symbols of inner radiance and joy. This light imagery transforms the bangles from mere objects into vehicles of spiritual and emotional significance, suggesting that women's lives, like light, have the capacity to illuminate the world around them.

The Bangle Sellers – Literary Devices

Literary Device 1: Simile

Definition: A simile is a comparison between two things using "like" or "as."

Example 1: "Silver and blue as the mountain mist" - Bangles are compared to mountain mist, suggesting ethereal beauty and purity.

Example 2: "Some are flushed like the buds that dream / On the tranquil brow of a woodland stream" - Young girls are compared to dreaming buds, suggesting their inner hopes and innocence.

Example 3: "Some are like fields of sunlit corn" - Bright-colored bangles are compared to golden grain, suggesting warmth and richness.

Example 4: "Some, like the flame of her marriage fire" - Red bangles are compared to the sacred fire of marriage, suggesting passion and transformation.

Example 5: "Like her bridal laughter and bridal tear" - Tinkling bangles sound like both laughter and tears, capturing mixed emotions.

Explanation: Similes are central to Naidu's poetic strategy of elevating bangles and women's roles through comparison to nature. The comparisons transform simple ornaments and ordinary lives into expressions of natural beauty and cosmic significance. The similes work through analogy—if bangles are like mountain mist (pure and beautiful), then women who wear them share those qualities.

Literary Device 2: Metaphor

Definition: A metaphor directly compares two things by saying one IS another, without using "like" or "as."

Example 1: "Lustrous tokens of radiant lives" - Bangles are tokens (symbols, representatives) of women's radiant lives. The bangles directly embody and represent the lives of women who wear them.

Example 2: "Shining loads" - The bangles are the load being carried, suggesting the weight of cultural tradition and expectation that bangle sellers (and by extension, women) bear.

Explanation: Metaphors transform bangles into symbols that directly embody larger meanings. They function as material representations of abstract concepts like happiness, spirituality, and the different stages of human life. Metaphor allows Naidu to infuse ordinary objects with profound significance.

Literary Device 3: Imagery

Definition: Imagery uses vivid, sensory language to create mental pictures that appeal to readers' senses.

Example 1: Visual imagery: "Rainbow-tinted circles of light" creates a visual picture of colorful, shining bangles catching light.

Example 2: Auditory imagery: "Tinkling, luminous, tender, and clear" suggests the sounds bangles make while describing their visual qualities.

Example 3: Tactile imagery: "Tender" and "delicate" appeal to the sense of touch, suggesting soft, fragile qualities.

Example 4: Nature imagery: Repeated references to mountain mist, woodland streams, flowers, leaves, and corn create natural landscapes that readers can visualize and imagine.

Explanation: Vivid imagery makes the poem emotionally powerful and memorable. Readers can visualize the bangles and imagine the temple fair scene. The sensory richness of the language elevates the poem's subject matter and engages readers on multiple levels.

Literary Device 4: Personification

Definition: Personification gives human characteristics to non-human things.

Example 1: "Some are flushed like the buds that dream" - Buds are personified as capable of dreaming, a human activity. The buds are "flushed" (blushing with emotion), another human characteristic.

Example 2: "On the tranquil brow of a woodland stream" - The stream is personified as having a brow (forehead), a human physical feature.

Explanation: Personification animates natural objects and makes them more emotionally resonant. By giving buds the ability to dream, the poet suggests the inner hopes and desires of maiden girls. Personification bridges the gap between nature and human experience, connecting the two realms.

Literary Device 5: Anaphora

Definition: Anaphora is the repetition of words or phrases at the beginning of successive lines or clauses.

Example 1: "Some are meet for a maiden's wrist, / Silver and blue as the mountain mist, / Some are flushed like the buds that dream / ... / Some are aglow with the bloom..." - The repetition of "Some are" at the beginning of multiple lines creates rhythm and emphasis.

Example 2: "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" - "Some" is repeated, creating a list-like effect that emphasizes the variety of bangles.

Explanation: Anaphora creates rhythm and musicality. The repeated "Some are" creates a chant-like quality appropriate for merchants calling out their wares. The repetition also suggests abundance and variety—the sellers have bangles for every woman and every situation. Anaphora makes the poem memorable and emphasizes key ideas through repetition.

Literary Device 6: Transferred Epithet (Hypallage)

Definition: A transferred epithet is a descriptive word (epithet) that grammatically modifies one thing but actually describes something else.

Example 1: "Faithful breast" - The word "faithful" describes the mother's devotion and loyalty, but it is attached to "breast" (a body part). The faithfulness belongs to the mother, not literally to the breast.

Example 2: "Tranquil brow of a woodland stream" - "Tranquil" describes the stream's peaceful nature, but it is attached to "brow" (a part of the stream). The tranquility applies to the entire stream.

Explanation: Transferred epithets create poetic compression and unusual beauty through linguistic displacement. They force readers to think about the relationship between the word and its grammatical object, creating layers of meaning and suggesting that qualities can flow between different entities. This device adds sophistication and subtlety to the language.

Literary Device 7: Rhetorical Question

Definition: A rhetorical question is asked not to get an answer but to make a point or create emphasis.

Example: "Who will buy these delicate, bright / Rainbow-tinted circles of light?" - This question is not meant to elicit a response but to invite potential customers while simultaneously emphasizing the beauty of the bangles.

Explanation: The rhetorical question creates engagement and draws readers into the poem's world. It functions both literally (as the bangle sellers' call to customers) and poetically (as an invitation to recognize the beauty and value in what is being described). Rhetorical questions create a sense of direct address and intimacy.

Literary Device 8: Alliteration

Definition: Alliteration is the repetition of the same beginning consonant sound in nearby words.

Example 1: "bridal laughter and bridal tear" - The "b" sound repeats, creating musicality and linking joy and sorrow.

Example 2: "Tinkling, luminous, tender" - The "t" sound repeats, creating a flowing, musical quality.

Example 3: "faithful" "fruitful" - The "f" sound repeats, suggesting connection between concepts.

Explanation: Alliteration creates musicality and makes the poem more memorable when read aloud. The repeated sounds reinforce connections between ideas and create a sense of harmony and order. Alliteration enhances the poem's song-like quality.

Literary Device 9: Symbolism

Definition: Symbolism uses objects, colors, or actions to represent larger concepts or ideas.

Example 1: Silver and blue bangles symbolize maidenhood, purity, and the dream of marriage.

Example 2: Red and gold bangles symbolize the passion and joy of marriage.

Example 3: Purple and gold-flecked grey bangles symbolize the maturity, wisdom, and dignity of motherhood.

Explanation: Symbolism allows the poem to function on multiple levels simultaneously. On the surface, it describes actual bangles sold at a fair. Beneath the surface, it explores the progression of women's lives and the cultural meanings attached to different life stages. Symbols make abstract concepts concrete and emotionally accessible.

Literary Device 10: Listing

Definition: Listing involves enumerating a series of items, often creating a cumulative effect.

Example: "Tinkling, luminous, tender, and clear" - Four adjectives are listed in succession, creating a cumulative effect where each positive quality adds to the overall picture of beauty and value.

Explanation: Listing creates emphasis and suggests abundance and variety. The multiple descriptions of the bangles' qualities accumulate to create a powerful sense of their value and beauty. Listing also creates a rhythmic, almost musical effect when the items are related adjectives describing the same noun.