“Muliebrity” Introduction

• Read the full text of “Muliebrity”

“Muliebrity” Summary

“Muliebrity” Themes

• 

  Womanhood and Selfhood

  Where this theme appears in the poem:

  • Lines 1-18
• 

  The Nature of Memory

  Where this theme appears in the poem:

  • Lines 1-12
  • Lines 15-18

Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “Muliebrity”

• Lines 1-4

  I have thought ...
  ... temple in Maninagar.

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

• Lines 5-7

  I have thought ...
  ... wet canna lilies,

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

• Lines 8-12

  the smell of ...
  ... and simultaneously –

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

• Lines 12-14

  I have thought ...
  ... nice image –

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

• Lines 14-18

  but most of ...
  ... of dung –

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

“Muliebrity” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

• Alliteration

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

  Where alliteration appears in the poem:

  • Line 1: “girl”
  • Line 2: “gathered”
  • Line 6: “her hands”
  • Line 7: “cow,” “dung,” “dust,” “canna”
  • Line 8: “clothes”
  • Line 9: “crows,” “wings which”
  • Line 10: “scoops”
  • Line 11: “smells surrounding,” “separately”
  • Line 12: “simultaneously”
  • Line 15: “greatness”
  • Line 16: “glistening”
  • Line 17: “particularly promising”

• Assonance

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

  Where assonance appears in the poem:

  • Line 2: “cow,” “round”
  • Line 7: “dung,” “dust”
  • Line 8: “smell,” “breath,” “freshly,” “clothes”
  • Line 9: “crows,” “wings which,” “different”
  • Line 11: “me separately”
  • Line 12: “simultaneously”

• Caesura

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

  Where caesura appears in the poem:

  • Line 12: “simultaneously – I”
  • Line 14: “image – but”

• Consonance

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

  Where consonance appears in the poem:

  • Line 1: “girl”
  • Line 2: “gathered,” “dung,” “wide,” “round”
  • Line 6: “her hands,” “her”
  • Line 7: “smell,” “cow-dung and road-dust and wet canna lilies”
  • Line 8: “smell,” “monkey breath,” “freshly washed clothes”
  • Line 9: “dust,” “crows’ wings which smells different”
  • Line 10: “smell,” “cow,” “scoops”
  • Line 11: “up,” “all,” “smells surrounding me separately”
  • Line 12: “simultaneously”
  • Line 15: “greatness”
  • Line 16: “glistening,” “cheekbones”
  • Line 17: “each,” “particularly promising”
  • Line 18: “mound,” “dung”

• Enjambment

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

  Where enjambment appears in the poem:

  • Lines 1-2: “girl / who”
  • Lines 2-3: “basket / along”
  • Lines 3-4: “house / and”
  • Lines 5-6: “she / moved”
  • Lines 6-7: “waist / and”
  • Lines 8-9: “clothes / and”
  • Lines 10-11: “scoops / it”
  • Lines 11-12: “separately / and”
  • Lines 12-13: “much / but”
  • Lines 14-15: “unwilling / to”
  • Lines 15-16: “greatness / and”
  • Lines 16-17: “cheekbones / each”
  • Lines 17-18: “promising / mound”

• Juxtaposition

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

  Where juxtaposition appears in the poem:

  • Lines 1-4: “the girl / who gathered cow-dung in a wide, round basket / along the main road passing by our house / and the Radhavallabh temple in Maninagar.”
  • Lines 7-9: “and the smell of cow-dung and road-dust and wet canna lilies, / the smell of monkey breath and freshly washed clothes / and the dust from crows’ wings which smells different –”
  • Lines 15-18: “the greatness / and the power glistening through her cheekbones / each time she found a particularly promising / mound of dung –”

• Polysyndeton

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

  Where polysyndeton appears in the poem:

  • Lines 7-10: “and the smell of cow-dung and road-dust and wet canna lilies, / the smell of monkey breath and freshly washed clothes / and the dust from crows’ wings which smells different – / and again the smell of cow-dung”

• Repetition

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

  Where repetition appears in the poem:

  • Line 6: “her hands and her waist”
  • Line 7: “the smell of cow-dung”
  • Line 8: “the smell”
  • Line 9: “smells”
  • Line 10: “the smell of cow-dung”
  • Line 11: “smells”
  • Line 13: “unwilling,” “for a”
  • Line 14: “for a,” “unwilling”

• Imagery

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

  Where imagery appears in the poem:

  • Lines 1-4
  • Lines 5-11
  • Lines 15-18

• Anaphora

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

  Where anaphora appears in the poem:

  • Line 1: “I have thought so much about the girl”
  • Line 5: “I have thought so much about the way she”
  • Line 12: “ I have thought so much”

“Muliebrity” Vocabulary

Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.

• Muliebrity
• Radhavallabh Temple in Maninagar
• Canna Lilies

• (Location in poem: )

Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Muliebrity”

• Form

• Meter

• Rhyme Scheme

“Muliebrity” Speaker

“Muliebrity” Setting

Literary and Historical Context of “Muliebrity”

More “Muliebrity” Resources

• External Resources

  • An Interview with Bhatt — The poet discusses her childhood and how she came to be a writer.  

  • The Radhavallabh Temple — Check out the temple Bhatt mentions on Google Maps!

  • Bhatt Out Loud — Listen to recordings of Bhatt reading poems from Brunezim, the collection in which "Muliebrity" appears.

  • Hinduism and the Cow — An article discussing the Hindu religion's most sacred animal. 

  • Ahmedabad — Learn more about the city in which Bhatt grew up and saw the young girl in the poem (Maninagar is a neighborhood within Ahmedabad).

• LitCharts on Other Poems by Sujata Bhatt

  • Search For My Tongue