The Full Text of “An Unknown Girl”
The Full Text of “An Unknown Girl”
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“An Unknown Girl” Introduction
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In "An Unknown Girl," by Moniza Alvi, the speaker describes getting her hand decorated with henna by "an unknown girl" at a night market in India. The speaker tenderly observes the contradictions of the market, which is filled with both traditional and modern elements and reflects the influence of both Eastern and Western cultures. The speaker's henna, which is in the shape of the national bird of India, as well as her later "longing" to reach out to the girl who painted her hand suggest the speaker's desire for a sense of cultural identity and belonging. "An Unknown Girl" was published in Alvi's second poetry collection, A Bowl of Warm Air, in 1996. Alvi herself was born in Pakistan (a few years after the 1947 Partition of India) but grew up in England, and the poem is informed by her own experience of being split between different ways of life.
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“An Unknown Girl” Summary
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The speaker describes going to a night market in India decorated with bright, fluorescent lights and getting her hand painted with henna, a traditional reddish-brown dye, by a girl she's never met before. The girl squeezes a line of the wet dye out of a nozzle onto the speaker's hand, as though icing a cake. She holds the speaker's hand still on her knee, which is covered with the silky, peach-colored cloth of her clothing. It has cost the speaker only a little bit of money to get her hand painted with henna at this night market by this girl she's never met before. A breeze kicks up the speaker's thinly stitched kameez, a kind of traditional tunic, as the drawing of a peacock begins to take shape on her palm. Colorful balloons float away from the street and mannequins with Western hairstyles tilt their heads and look out of store windows. Above the speaker hang banners advertising the Miss India 1993 beauty pageant as well as fabric for making curtains and couches. The brown lines of henna on the speaker's skin look like a new set of veins. The speaker repeats that she's at the night market, where a girl the speaker has never met before is skillfully painting her hand with henna. The speaker holds tight to the bold lines of the peacock the way people hold tight to the sides of a train on which they've hitched a ride. By this point in the evening, the immensely busy streets have grown quiet. The speaker will peel off the excess dried henna before she goes to bed in order to expose the golden-brown drawing of a bird underneath, its outline as soft as the trail that a snail leaves in its wake. The dye will fade from the speaker's skin in just a few days. But whenever the speaker is reminded of India, she'll reach across the entire country (implicitly, the country in which she lives) out of a desire to connect with the strange girl she met at the brightly colored night market.
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“An Unknown Girl” Themes
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Cultural Identity and Belonging
"An Unknown Girl" explores the desire for cultural connection and belonging. Poet Moniza Alvi was born in Pakistan (not long after the 1947 Partition of India) but grew up in England, and her own experience informs the poem's poignant sensation of being split between two worlds. The speaker, who might represent Alvi herself, describes getting henna (a kind of dye) painted on her hand by "an unknown girl" at a night market in India. The art depicts a peacock, India's national bird, and becomes a symbol of the speaker's longing to feel like a part culture in which she's only temporarily participating. Her henna "will fade in a week," suggesting that when the speaker leaves this place, her connection to India will also fade. But her "longing for the unknown girl" at the bazaar indicates that the speaker will continue to reach for this part of her identity even from afar.
The speaker zeroes in on specific cultural images, such as a breeze lifting her "kameez" (a tunic worn in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh), "Banners for Miss India 1993" (a national beauty pageant), and the sight of the hennaed "peacock" taking shape on her palm. All of these details suggest that the speaker, implied to be a tourist, is savoring this moment of being immersed in Indian culture.
The henna gives the speaker "new brown veins," suggesting that reconnecting with her heritage has invigorated her, filled her with new life. She thus "cling[s]" to the image of the peacock the way someone might "cling / to sides of a train." Just as some people might grab onto a train so that they can hitch a ride somewhere they don't have a ticket to go, the speaker is holding on to this feeling of being hennaed with a symbol for India because it's taking her somewhere she wants to be. The peacock on her hand is like a ticket that allows her to access deeper parts of herself and her history.
Yet the speaker understands this connection is temporary; the henna tattoo will disappear soon enough, and she will again be left with a deep longing for this part of her identity. "It will fade in a week," the speaker says of the peacock. And when it does, the speaker imagines she will "lean across a country / With [her] hands outstretched," desiring to once again be close to the "unknown girl" who hennaed her. The speaker's "outstretched [hands]" suggest that she will again feel disconnected from her heritage and long to feel close to it once more.
In the end, it becomes clear that the girl at the bazaar isn't the only "unknown girl" in the poem: the title implies that the speaker is unknown to herself, since there is a side to her identity that she has not been able to fully explore or experience.
Note that it's also possible to interpret the speaker here not as Alvi herself but rather as a general tourist who may or may not have an ancestral connection to India. Either way, the poem speaks to the poignant wonder and thrill of being immersed in an unfamiliar world and the deep desire to experience a clear sense of cultural identity and belonging.
Where this theme appears in the poem:- Lines 1-17
- Lines 27-48
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Globalization, Tradition, and Modernity
"An Unknown Girl" comments on the general tension between Eastern and Western cultures, as well as between tradition and modernity. The speaker's visit to a traditional Indian market dotted with neon lights and "Western perms" illustrates how the increasing globalization of modern life can lead to cross-cultural connections and exchange. At the same time, the poem subtly conveys how such globalization may slowly erode cultural identity and a society's connection to its past.
The speaker visits a "bazaar," a kind of market common in the Middle East and Asia, while dressed in a "kameez," a traditional garment of both South and Central Asia. The speaker also uses words Western readers may not be familiar with, such as "hennaing" (temporarily dyeing the skin with henna, a practice with deep roots in India and other Asian, Middle Eastern, and North African countries) and "rupees" (the official currency of India). All of this emphasizes that the poem takes place in a specific geographic and cultural context.
Yet there are also markers of both modernity and Western influence in this setting. For example, the speaker points out a "Miss India" banner, mannequins with "Western perms," and neon lights. The juxtaposition between all these details reflects the idea that the modern world has gotten smaller, more interlinked. While this makes it easier for the speaker to connect with her heritage, this also means that it's harder to escape the shadow of Western influence. (It's worth remembering India was colonized and ruled by Britain for nearly a hundred years, so this influence is further a reminder of Western imperialism.)
The speaker also says that she gets her hand hennaed for just "a few rupees"—currency worth only a fraction of the British pound or the American dollar. The henna artist is clearly skilled—"very deftly" creating a beautiful, detailed "peacock" and "stead[ying]" the speaker's hand—so mentioning how little the henna costs might subtly nod to the devaluation of traditional culture, not to mention the economic tension between tourists and locals.
The poem doesn't necessarily cast judgment on any of this—at least not explicitly. Instead, it observes the tensions and contradictions of a modern, interconnected planet—and the feelings of longing and displacement that can accompany them.
Where this theme appears in the poem:- Lines 1-4
- Lines 10-26
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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “An Unknown Girl”
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Lines 1-6
In the evening bazaar ...
... from a nozzle."An Unknown Girl" begins by describing its setting: the speaker is at an "evening bazaar" where "an unknown girl" is painting her hand with henna. A bazaar is a kind of market common throughout Asia and the Middle East, filled with lots of small shops and vendors. The speaker also mentions that the marketplace is "studded with neon," meaning that it is adorned with bright, fluorescent lights. The imagery suggests the festive atmosphere of the market while also signaling that the poem takes place in the modern day.
Henna, meanwhile, is a natural, reddish-brown dye long used in India (and elsewhere) to paint elaborate, temporary designs on the skin. The girl squeezes the thick, wet dye from a thin nozzle, drawing lines onto the speaker's skin (the henna will later dry down, leaving behind a stain that lasts a few days).
The poem is written in free verse, meaning it doesn't follow any set pattern of meter or rhyme. Instead, its rhythms feel as natural as thought or speech. The use of the present tense makes the poem feel immediate, plopping readers right there alongside the speaker. A string of enjambment adds momentum to the poem as well, pulling the reader down the page and sweeping them up in the speaker's experience:
In the evening bazaar
studded with neon
an unknown girl
is [...] -
Lines 7-13
She is icing ...
... hennaing my hand. -
Lines 14-19
As a little ...
... up in balloons. -
Lines 20-26
Dummies in shop-fronts ...
... canopy me. -
Lines 27-31
I have new ...
... hennaing my hand. -
Lines 32-35
I am clinging ...
... of a train. -
Lines 36-43
Now the furious ...
... in a week. -
Lines 44-48
When India appears ...
... the neon bazaar.
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“An Unknown Girl” Symbols
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The Peacock
The henna peacock that the "unknown girl" paints on the speaker's hand symbolizes the speaker's connection to and longing for India. Peacocks are the national bird of India, so it's not a coincidence that the speaker is having this particular bird painted on her palm while visiting this country. The peacock is clearly significant to the speaker, who says she "cling[s] / to these firm peacock lines" the way someone might "cling / to the sides of a train." In other words, she's hoping the image of the peacock can steady her and bring her closer to a world from which she seems to feel cut off.
The speaker's comparison of the henna ink to "new brown veins" hammers home the idea that this drawing represents a link to the speaker's heritage. Her desire to return to this experience at the end of the poem implies that she yearns for India and the sense of cultural identity and belonging she felt there.
Where this symbol appears in the poem:- Lines 16-17: “a peacock spreads its lines / across my palm.”
- Lines 32-33: “I am clinging / to these firm peacock lines”
- Lines 41-42: “reveal soft as a snail trail / the amber bird beneath.”
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The Miss India Banner and the Mannequins
As the speaker gets her hands painted with henna, a banner for "Miss India 1993" hangs above her head. There are also "dummies," or mannequins, staring out of shops with distinctly "Western perms." These objects symbolize the influence of the Western world on India and its culture.
Miss India is a national beauty pageant that began in 1964, essentially as India's version of Miss America. Miss America, which began in New Jersey in 1921, is the longest-running beauty pageant in the world. It was the first pageant to be considered "respectable," and its popularity played a major part in the rise of similar pageants across the globe.
Perms, meanwhile, involve setting curls into the hair. Indian women's hair is often (but not always) quite thick and straight, meaning these mannequins don't reflect the way locals actually look. The mention of these things thus hints at the way Western values have permeated Indian culture. That the "dummies" wear "Western perms" and women participate in Miss America-style beauty competitions suggests that Western standards have affected Indians' perception of ideal beauty.
Note, too, that these objects exist alongside banners advertising "curtain cloth" and "sofa cloth" as well as the ancient practice of henna art, illustrating the surreal juxtaposition of East and West, tradition and modernity, in this market.
Where this symbol appears in the poem:- Lines 20-26: “Dummies in shop-fronts / tilt and stare / with their Western perms. / Banners for Miss India 1993, / for curtain cloth / and sofa cloth / canopy me.”
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“An Unknown Girl” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language
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Repetition
"An Unknown Girl" is filled with repetition that makes certain words and images pop out at the reader. For example, the speaker repeats the lines "In the evening bazaar" and "an unknown girl / is hennaing my hand" multiple times throughout the poem. Each repetition is interspersed with slightly different details: "studded with neon" in lines 1-4, "for a few rupees" in lines 10-13, and "very deftly" in lines 28-31. These repetitions become hypnotic, almost like a mantra, as though the speaker is trying to remain present in (or recall) this tender moment of connection with India. The speaker then repeats elements of these lines in the poem's final moments, though not verbatim:
longing for the unknown girl
in the neon bazaar.The key words "unknown girl," "neon," and "bazaar" all suggest the way this experience will continue to haunt the speaker when she returns home.
There are other important repetitions throughout the poem as well. The word "peacock" also appears in lines 16 and 33, for example, highlighting the importance of this symbolic connection to India. The words "brown" and "line[s]" also appear more than once:
- "She squeezes a wet brown line" (line 5)
- "a peacock spreads its lines" (line 16)
- "I have new brown veins" (line 27)
- "to these firm peacock lines" (line 33)
- "the dry brown lines" (line 39)
The "brown lines" of the speaker's peacock drawing spread not just across the speaker's palm but through the poem itself.
There are also more specific types of repetition throughout the poem, such as the anaphora in lines 5-7:
She squeezes a wet brown line
from a nozzle.
She is icing my hand.In addition to creating a steady, hypnotic rhythm, this anaphora emphasizes the importance of this stranger who is making the speaker feel more at home in India. The repetition of "cloth" at the ends of lines 24-25, meanwhile, suggests the dizzying array of banners that "canopy" the speaker.
Polyptoton, another kind of repetition, plays an important role in the simile of lines 32-25:
I am clinging
to these firm peacock lines
like people who cling
to the sides of a train.The repetition of the word "cling" conveys the speaker's desperate desire to hold onto this link to India, a feeling the speaker compares to way the people might desperately grip the side of a moving train.
Finally, the speaker says that after they leave this place, India will continue to "appear[] and reappear[]" to them. The repetition of the root word "appears" suggests that this experience hasn't satisfied the speaker's need for this place but has rather stoked it; the speaker will continue to long for this land and its people and culture long after she's left it.
Where repetition appears in the poem:- Line 1: “In the evening bazaar”
- Line 2: “neon”
- Lines 3-4: “an unknown girl / is hennaing my hand.”
- Line 5: “She,” “brown,” “line”
- Line 7: “She,” “hand”
- Line 10: “In the evening bazaar”
- Lines 12-13: “an unknown girl / is hennaing my hand.”
- Line 16: “peacock,” “lines”
- Line 24: “cloth”
- Line 25: “cloth”
- Line 27: “brown”
- Line 28: “In the evening bazaar”
- Lines 30-31: “an unknown girl / is hennaing my hand.”
- Line 32: “clinging”
- Line 33: “peacock,” “lines”
- Line 34: “cling”
- Line 39: “brown,” “lines”
- Line 44: “appears,” “reappears”
- Line 46: “hands”
- Lines 47-48: “the unknown girl / in the neon bazaar.”
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Consonance
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Imagery
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Simile
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Enjambment
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"An Unknown Girl" 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.
- Bazaar
- Studded
- Neon
- Hennaing
- Nozzle
- Satin-peach
- Rupees
- Shadow-stitched
- Kameez
- Dummies
- Canopy
- Miss India
- Deftly
- Snail trail
- Amber
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(Location in poem: Line 1: “In the evening bazaar”; Line 10: “In the evening bazaar”; Line 28: “In the evening bazaar”; Line 48: “in the neon bazaar.”)
A market with lots of different small vendors and stalls, typically found in India and the Middle East.
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Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “An Unknown Girl”
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Form
"An Unknown Girl" is a 48-line, free verse poem. The use of free verse allows the poem to sound intimate and conversational, as if the speaker is simply thinking or speaking her thoughts aloud rather than performing them for an audience. Yet the poem is still elevated by musical devices such as repetition and consonance, which make its language more lyrical and emphasize the significance of this experience for the speaker.
The poem's lines are generally quite short and frequently enjambed, giving it a smooth, propulsive rhythm that carries the speaker along. The poem's swift movement down the page might further evoke the speaker's feelings of being swept up in this moment of connection.
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Meter
The poem is written in free verse, so it doesn't follow a set meter. Free verse is the norm for the vast majority of modern poetry. It allows for a less controlled, more free-flowing rhythm that mimics the natural movements of thought and speech.
When the poet wants to create emphasis, she uses repetition, alliteration, or enjambment. The poem as a whole feels relaxed and intimate, however, like someone sharing a memory with a friend.
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Rhyme Scheme
As a free verse poem, "An Unknown Girl" doesn't use a rhyme scheme. The absence of a rhyme scheme keeps the poem feeling loose and modern. When the poem is read out loud, the poem sounds more conversational than musical (although it is still more lyrical than everyday speech due to the poet's careful word choice, syntax, and sonic devices like consonance and assonance).
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“An Unknown Girl” Speaker
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The speaker of the poem is someone visiting an evening market in India, where she's having her hand painted with "henna" (a natural, reddish-brown dye that stains the skin for a few days). The design the girl is painting on her is that of a peacock—the national bird of India and a symbol of the speaker's desire to feel like a part of this country.
The fact that the speaker doesn't know the henna artist implies that she's a tourist. The fact that she feels such a deep longing for India, meanwhile, implies that the speaker is of Indian descent. The speaker views the henna lines as "new brown veins," the drawing a marker of a heritage to which she "cling[s]."
The speaker can be read as an extension of the poet herself (which is why we've used female pronouns throughout this guide). Moniza Alvi was born in Pakistan (which split from India shortly before Alvi's birth) but grew up in England. The poem's final lines might refer to Alvi yearning for India from England, metaphorically reaching "across" that "country" toward this girl and the world she came from.
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“An Unknown Girl” Setting
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The poem takes place inside a "bazaar," a kind of bustling traditional market popular in India (and elsewhere) filled with lots of small stalls and vendors. It's "evening," and the market is dotted with bright, modern "neon" lights. The speaker is sitting with a henna artist, who holds the speaker's hand "on her satin-peach knee" while she paints a "peacock" on her palm.
The speaker describes a slight breeze rifling her "shadow-stitched kameez" (a traditional tunic worn in India) and colorful "balloons" drifting up into the air. She also mentions mannequins in store windows that have "Western perms" and "Banners" for the "Miss India 1993" beauty pageant. Above her hang advertisements "for curtain cloth / and sofa cloth." The market thus reflects both Eastern tradition and the spread of Western culture and values.
As the girl finishes with the speaker's hand, the streets grow quiet and the speaker imagines later rubbing away the dried dye to "reveal [...] the amber bird beneath." She says that this bird "will fade in a week." In other words, her connection to India, to this time and place, won't last. When she's back home (for Alvi, in England), she will long to reach across the globe to connect with this girl, and India, once again.
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Literary and Historical Context of “An Unknown Girl”
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Literary Context
Moniza Alvi (1954-present) is a Pakistani-British poet whose writing often touches on themes of cultural identity and belonging. Alvi was born in Lahore to a Pakistani father and British mother, but the family moved to England shortly thereafter. This move had a major impact on Alvi's work, which she has characterized as focusing on a kind of "split, a split I try to mend, it could be between England and Pakistan, body and soul, or husband and wife." Alvi published "An Unknown Girl" in her second poetry collection, A Bowl of Warm Air, in 1996. She has since written six other collections and has won numerous awards for her work.
Some other notable writers of the Pakistani diaspora include poet and screenwriter Fatimah Asghar; poet Umeed Ali; memoirist Sara Suleri Goodyear; novelist, poet, and essayist Zulfiqar Ghose; and playwright, screenwriter, filmmaker, and novelist Hanif Qureshi.
Historical Context
Moniza Alvi was born in Lahore, Pakistan in 1954. She moved with her Pakistani father and British mother to Hertfordshire, England when she was only a few months old and did not return to Pakistan until after her first full-length poetry collection, The Country at My Shoulder, was published in 1993. Her experiences of being mixed-race and growing up outside her ancestral home inform much of her work, and this poem specifically.
More broadly, Alvi's work is contextualized by the 1947 partition of British India into a newly independent India and a newly created Pakistan. Partition displaced roughly 15 million people, who suddenly found themselves on the wrong side of the newly created religious borders. People fled their ancestral homes as massacres broke out, and more than a million people lost their lives.
Although Alvi wasn't born until seven years after Partition, India and Pakistan were still reeling from the massive ripple of changes it wrought, and Alvi's family was only one of countless many who emigrated from the continent in its wake. "An Unknown Girl" doesn't refer to these events directly, but it does hint at India's history of British colonial rule and the breakdown of traditional Indian culture that has occurred as a result of Western influence and globalization.
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More “An Unknown Girl” Resources
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External Resources
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Moniza Alvi's Website — Read a short biography and reviews of Alvi's various books, including A Bowl of Warm Air, in which "An Unknown Girl" was published.
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The Poet's Life — Check out an in-depth look at Alvi's life and work via the Poetry Archive.
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What Is Henna? — Dig into the history of this "ancient art."
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LitCharts on Other Poems by Moniza Alvi
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