Treasure Trove Poems Workbook Answers The Bangle Sellers
Treasure Trove Poems Workbook Answers
The Bangle Sellers Comprehension Passages
1. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow :
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.
(i) Where are the bangle sellers going ? Are they happy and contented ?
Answer: The bangle sellers are going to a temple fair to sell their bangles to earn money. Actually they cannot be happy and contented because they live in poverty and deprivation. But they can, of course, appear to be happy.
(ii) What do you mean by ‘Rainbow-tinted circles of light’ ? What kind of literary device is it ?
Answer: The multicoloured bangles are described as rainbow-tinted circles of light. It is a metaphor.
(iii) What are these bangles for ? Why has the poet repeated the word ‘happy’ in the last line here ?
Answer: These bangles are meant for happy daughters and happy wives. By repeating the word ‘happy’, the poet has emphasised the human element of the product. The daughters who expect to be married soon wear bangles to express their happy longings. The wives who wear bangles express their happiness and contentment in their marital life.
(iv) What colours of bangles are preferred by virgin maidens ?
Answer: The bangles which are silvery and blue and as misty as mountain mist are preferred by virgin maidens who have countless longings for their married lives. The bangles which are as pink as buds that bloom on the calm surface of a forest stream, are also preferred by the virgin maidens. The shining green bangles are also liked by them.
(v) What rhyme scheme is followed in the poem ?
Answer: The poem consists of four stanzas of six lines each. The rhyme scheme followed in each stanza is aabbcc, which is a couplet form. It is mainly responsible for the melodious effect and fast rhythm. It renders a lyrical and musical effect to the whole poem. It gratifies the auditory sense of the readers.
2. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow :
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.
(i) Who is the narrator ? What has been described earlier ?
Answer: The narrator, one of the bangle sellers, may be a man or a woman – we have no clue to the gender. The bangle sellers are going to a temple fair to sell their bangles to earn money. They sell multicoloured bangles to the happy maidens and happy wives. They have a large variety of beautiful bangles. The happy maidens and happy wives have an ample choice to select bangles of their likings.
(ii) In what context is the expression ‘the mountain mist’ used here ?
Answer: This expression is used for the colour of bangles which are preferred by virgin maidens. The poet says that the bangles which are silvery and blue and as misty as mountain are preferred by virgin maidens.
(iii) How has the poet described the bangles ?
Answer: The poet has described the multicoloured bangles with the help of similes. For example, she says :
1. Silver and blue as the mountain mist
2. Some are flushed like the buds that dream
(iv) Explain : “Some are aglow with the bloom new born leaves
Answer: Some of the bangles are shining green whose freshness is close to the vivid beauty of the new born, tender leaves. Such bangles are preferred by the virgin maidens who have countless longings for their married lives.
(v) What does the poet say about the bride’s preference about bangles later in the context ?
Answer: The bride prefers yellow bangles which look like corn fields because they are suitable for a bride on her marriage morning. She also likes fiery red bangles which are like the flame of her marriage fire. They are expressive of the passion in her heart. They create a ringing sound as the bride walks. They are shining and delicate, as the laughter of the bride (as she is getting married) or tear (as she weeps at the separation from her parents).
3. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow :
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.
(i) What kinds of bangles have earlier been mentioned ?
Answer: Bangles of different colours have been mentioned earlier : silver, blue, pink and green for virgin maidens, yellow and fiery red for the bride.
(ii) What hues of bangles are cherished by a bride ? What are they symbolic of ?
Answer: A bride cherishes yellow and fiery-red coloured bangles. These colours represent her happiness on the wedding day (yellow) and her passion on the wedding night (fiery red).
(iii) Purple and golden coloured bangles represent motherhood. How ?
Answer: Purple and golden coloured bangles represent motherhood. These colours are associated with the feelings of pride and fulfilment in the heart of the mother.
(iv) What fulfils the life of an Indian wife and mother ?
Answer: Rearing her sons, serving her family and sharing the proud place of being by the side of her husband at religious rituals fulfil the life of an Indian wife and mother.
(v) What in the passage will repel a modem woman ?
Answer: A modern woman will be repelled by the patriarchal notions inherent in the passage : gender discrimination and insubordination of women in the social and religious set-up.
The Bangle Sellers Assignment
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow :
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.
(i) What hues of bangles are preferred by virgin maidens as told earlier in the context ?
(ii) Why does the bride have preference for yellow coloured bangles for her wedding morning ?
(iii) Why has the red colour of bangles been compared to the flame of the bride’s marriage fire ?
(iv) Which literary device is used in the last two lines here ?
(v) Why does the poet refer to the ‘bridal laughter’ and ‘bridal tear’ simultaneously ?