Indian Weavers by Sarojini Naidu is a short poem consisting of three stanzas having four lines each.
The poetess talks about three types of dresses that the Indian Weavers weave at three particular times of the day. Metaphorically each time and the dress weaved in that time symbolizes a particular stage of life.
The poetess uses a number of literary devices to express her ideas like simile, metaphor, etc. The poem also consists of a discussion between the poet and the weavers; the poet asks the weavers and the latter reply.
STANZA 1 :
In the first stanza, the poetess questions the weavers that why are they weaving clothes early in the morning that seem to be quite beautiful and charming and of a particular colour. The poetess is curious to know about these clothes as they seem quite special. The weavers reply that the clothes that they are weaying are blue as the wing of a halcyon which is the other name of the kingfisher whose wings are bright blue in colour. The weavers reply that they are weaving the robes of a new-born child who has just come to the world. This stanza describes the first stage of human life which is full of freshness, happiness, beauty and hope and there is no place for sorrow at this stage.
STANZA 2 : In this stanza, the poetess meets the Indian weavers again during the fall of night and asks why they are weaving a cloth late in the evening which is the time when most of the Indian marriages take place. She also asks why they are weaving a garment so bright like the plumes (feathers) of a peacock, purple and green. The weavers reply that the cloth is bright and richly coloured because they are weaving it for a queen. She will use it to make her marriage veil. This stanza describes the second or adult stage of life when humans quest for a better and prosperous life. The colours purple and green symbolize the ups and downs of the life that makes adulthood bright.
STANZA 3 : In the final stanza, the poetess finds the weavers quite sorrowful, grieved and silent. They are weaving something weird in the dead of the night which is colourless and lifeless so, rather than asking why are they weav-ing, she asks what are they weaving? The weavers reply that they are weaving shroud which means a cloth used to put on the dead body. This represents the final stage of human life that is death which is lifeless and emotionless just like a white cloud or a feather. However, the white colour also symbolizes eternal peace and calm that comes with death.
The poem sums up human life in three main stages using symbols like clothes and times of the day. The life starts its journey with blue colour representing joy and hap-piness and then come green and purple that represent the ups and downs of life along with happiness and finally comes a single colour – white that represents the last stage of human life when the person dies and with him the emotions that were connected to life die as well.
