IN THE BAZAARS OF HYDERABAD
What do you sell O ye merchants ?Richly your wares are displayed.
Turbans of crimson and silver,
Tunics of purple brocade,
Mirror with panels of amber,
Daggers with handle of jade.
What do you weigh, O ye vendors?
Saffron and lentil and rice.
What do you grind, O ye maidens?
Sandalwood, henna, and spice.
What do you call , O ye pedlars?
Chessman and ivory dice.
What do you make,O ye goldsmiths?
Wristlets and ankles and ring,
Bells for the feet of blue pigeons
Frail as a dragon- fly's wing,
Girdles of gold for dancers,
Scabbards of gold for the king.
What do you cry,O ye fruitmen?
Citron, pomegranate, and plum.
What do you play ,O magicians?
Spells for aeons to come.
What do you weave, O ye flower-girls
With tassels of azure and red?
Crowns for the brow of a bridegroom,
Chaplets to garland his bed,
Sheets of white blossoms new-garnered
To perfume the sleep of the dead.
--Sarojini Naidu
4 comments:
hey thanks for providing the text of this poem. i read it 12 yrs ago when i was in clas 5. At that time it seemed like a boring long poem that we had to learn by heart. But today, in hindsight i observe what beautiful things did school teach me..
Hey thanks , i have been looking for this poem for a while now ...
hey! thanks for the text...
i too remember learning this in school the oxford text book... lol
its one of the titles that stuck in my head! :)
that's a wonderful poem that captures the charisma of Hyderabad so well that even an outsider like me has always felt the nuances of this historic place just by reading sarojini.i have now got a strong impulse to visit the place..
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