Letters of Sri Aurobindo

(On Poetry and Literature)

Third Series

Contents

Section One

The Process, Form and Substance of Poetry

1.	Three Elements of Poetic Creation.
2.	Three Essentials for Writing Poetry.
3.	Essence of Inspiration.
4.	Poetic Fluency.
5.	Inspiration and Effort.
6.	Correction by Second Inspiration.
7.	Joy of Poetic Creation.
8.	Pressure of Creative Formation
9.	Form and Substance of Poetry.
10.	Rhythm and Significance
11.	Types of Perfection in Poetry.
12.	Poetic Austerity and Exuberance (1)
13.	Poetic Austerity and Exuberance (2)
14.	Poetic Austerity and Exuberance (3)
15.	Poetic Austerity and Exuberance (4)
16.	Epic Greatness and Sublimity
17.	Poetic Nobility and Grandeur: Epic and Ballad Movements.
18	Philosophy in Poetry.
19.	Mystic Poetry - Philosophising in Poetry-Objection to Repetition
20.	Poetic Intuition and Critical Intellect.
21.	The Two Parts of the Poetic Creator.
22.	Need of Life-Experience for Literary Creation.
23.	Relation between the Personal Character and Life-Experience and the Work of an Artist.
24.	The Illusion of Realism (1)
25.	The Illusion of Realism (2)

Section Two

Sources of Poetic Inspiration and Vision ―Mystic and Spiritual Poetry

1.	Sources of Poetic Inspiration.
2.	Vital Poetry.
3.	The World of Word-Music
4.	Earth-Memory Art–Dream Inspiration
5.	Poetry of the Inner Mind and Dynamic Vision
6.	Poetic Intelligence and Higher Mind.
7.	True Inspiration and Poetic Rhetoric
8.	A Personal Appreciation
9.	Poetry of the Intuitive Mind.
10.	Poetry of Spiritual Vision
11.	Mystic and Spiritual Poetry.
12.	Mystic Poetry of Higher and Lower Planes.
13.	Sunlight and Moonlight Mystic Poetry-Inspiration and Revelation.
14.	Symbolic and Mystic Poetry.
15.	A Comparison between Arjava's "Totalitarian" and Walter de la Mare's "Listeners".
16.	A Comparison between A'S "Pharphar" and Walter de la Mare's "Arabia".
17.	Truth behind Poetic Images.
18.	Mystic Symbols.
19.	Symbolism and Allegory (1)
20.	Symbolism and Allegory (2 )
21.	Psychic and Esoteric Poetry.
22.	Psychic and Overhead Inspiration
23.	Overhead Poetry.
24.	Overmind Rhythm and Inspiration
25.	The Mantra
26.	Overmind and Aesthetics–Critical, Intellect and Mystical Poetry.
27.	Use of "High-Light" Words in Spiritual Poetry.
28.	Use of Undignified Words in Poetry.
29.	Overhead Inspiration and Overmind Aesthesis.
30.	Greatness and Beauty on Poetry.

Section Three

Poetic Rhythm and Technique

1	Two Factors in Poetic Rhythm
2	Importance of Metre and Technique
3	Inspiration and Study of Technique.
4	English Quantitative Verse and Classical, Metres - Melody of English and Bengali Languages.
5	Comments on Milford's Views on Quantity in English Verse.
6	Quantitative Metre in Bengali Poetry.
7	Failure of Early English Hexameter.
8	Accent in English Rhythm.
9	The Alexandrine.
10	Octosyllabic Metre
11	Combination of Iambics and Anapaests.
12	The Problem of Free Verse.
13	Imperfect Rhymes.
14	Bengali Gadya-Chhanda.
15	Invention of New Metres.
16	Unpopularity of New Metres–Cryptic Poetry
17	Comments on some Experiments in Metre (1)
18	Comments on some Experiments in Metre (2)
19	Comments on some Experiments in Metre (3)
20	Comments on some Experiments in Metre (4)
21	Nursery Rhymes and Popular Songs.
22	Difference between a Song and a Poem.
23	Sonnet and Satire

Section Four

Translation of Poetry

1	Two Ways of Translating Poetry
2	Freedom in Translation
3	Literalness in Translation
4	Importance of Turn of Language in Translation
5	Difficulty of Catching Subtleties in Translation
6	Translation of Prose into Poetry
7	Remarks on Bengali Translation of an English Poem.
8	Remarks on Bengali Translation of "Six Poems"
9	Remarks on Bengali Translation of a Poem of Shelley
10	Shelley's Skylark–Imperfections of Great poets Essential significance of Shelley's Poetry
11	Difficulty of Translating Urdu Songs into English–Preference of Krishna to Rama.

Section Five

Modern Poetry

1	Contemporary English poetry (1)
2	Contemporary English poetry (2)
3	Contemporary English poetry (3)
4	Latest Trend in English Poetry
5	Modern Art and Poetry
6	Surrealist Poetry (1)
7	Surrealist Poetry (2)

Section Six

Indo-English Poetry

1	Achievement of Indo-English Poetry–literary Decadence in Europe
2	Future of Indo-English Poetry
3	Mental Theories and Poetic Freedom
4	Pitfalls of Indo-English Blank Verse
5	Practical Suggestions for Writing English Poetry (1)
6	Practical Suggestions for Writing English Poetry(2)
7	Requirements for Writing Good English
8	Current Use of English Language

Section Seven

Appreciation of Poetry and Art

1	Appreciation of Poetic Value
2	Subjective Element in Criticism of poetry and Art
3	Experience of Beauty
4	Contemporary Judgment of Poetry
5	Abiding Intuition of Poetic and Artistic Greatness
6	Final Verdict on Creative Work
7	Comparison of the Arts
8	Poetry and Novel
9	Musical Excellence and General Culture
10	Comment on Croce's Theory of Aesthetics

Section Eight

Poetic Creation and Yoga–Utility of Literature, etc. in Sadhana

1	Reading and Poetic Creation and Yoga
2	Poetic Creation and Yoga
3	Silence and Creative Activity
4	Creation by the Word
5	Writing for the Divine
6	Development of Mind and Sadhana
7	Reading and Real knowledge
8	Spiritual Value of Poetry
9	Utility of Literature, etc. in Yoga (1)
10	Utility of Literature, etc. in Yoga (2)
11	Utility of Literature, etc. in Yoga (3)
12	Literature and Change of Nature
13	Novel-Read=> Section Nine *Poets–Mystics–Intellectuals*

1	The Poet and the Yogi
2	The Poet and the Prophet
3	Born Poet and Genius
4	Genius and Yoga
5	Classification of the World's Greatest Poets (1)
6	Classification of the World's Greatest Poets (2)
7	Goethe and Shakespeare; Homer, Vyasa and Valmiki
8	Importance of the Power of Poetic Expression
9	Blake (1)
10	Blake (2)
11	Yeats and AE
12	Yeats and the Occult (1)
13	Yeats and the Occult (2)
147	D.H. Lawrence (1)
15	D.H. Lawrence (2)
16	D.H. Lawrence and Modern Poetry (1)
17	D.H. Lawrence and Modern Poetry (2)
18	D.H. Lawrence–Human Ego-Centricity–Attitudes towards Human Defects
19	Wordsworth's Realisation
20	Coleridge's "Ancient Mariner"
21	Browning
22	Baudelaire
23	Michael Madhusudan
24	Great Prose-Writers
25	Intellectual Capacity of Mystics
26	The Mystic and the Intellectual–Bernard Shaw
27	Estimate of Bernard Shaw
28	Wells–Chesterton–Shaw
29	Shaw as a Creative Mind
30	Bertrand Russell
31	Comment on a Statement of B. Russell
32	Anatole France
33	Bhatkhande

FOREWORD

The letters of Sri Aurobindo included in the present volume deal with a subject different from that of his letters already published in the first two volumes in this Series. These earlier volumes contained letters relating to the philosophy, psychology and practice of his system of Integral Toga; the present volume is confined only to letters dealing with literary topics, especially those connected with the creation and critical appreciation of poetry. Sri Aurobindo is now well known as a Master-mystic and philosopher and a great poet but very few know that he is also a literary critic of exceptionally fine discernment and unfailing judgment. The faculty of poetic creation is not necessarily combined with the faculty of poetic appreciation and often a distinguished creator of poetry may be a poor judge of his own or other poets’ work, but in Sri Aurobindo there is a unique combination of both in a remarkably high degree. His main work in the field of poetic criticism, however, lies embedded in a long series of articles published under the title "The Future Poetry” in the monthly philosophical journal ''Arya” which he conducted during the years 1914 to 1921, but this journal has long

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Become defunct and it may take many years before these articles are resurrected and made available to the public.

The letters in the present volume reveal a different category of Sri Aurobindo's writing on the subject of literary and poetic criticism. They were not intended to give any systematic and exhaustive treatment of the subject but were written by way of comments or explanatory remarks to a few of his disciples who were writing poetry under fits inspiration and direction and who used to submit their work to him for guidance and help, incidentally putting him various questions regarding the inspiration and vision, the form and technique or the style and substance of poetry find sometimes more general questions about literature and art. A very large corpus of this writing relates to a critical examination and appraisement of particular lines or phrases of poems of his poet-disciples but as it would be unintelligible unless read along with the original poems it has been here left out as unsuitable for publication. Only those letters have been selected for inclusion in this volume which discuss poetry or literature in a general way. They have been arranged and grouped under separate sections so as to construct, from these occasional comments made on the works of different poets at different times, as complete a picture as possible of Sri Aurobindo's views on the main issues in the field of literary creation and appreciation.

The intention in making these letters available to the public is that the illuminating advice which Sri Aurobindo

gave to his few poet-disciples may also prove helpful to others who have a true impulse of literary creation and are in need of sure guidance to direct it on right lines. They will prove of especial help to those who are attempting to write spiritual and mystical poetry, for here Sri Aurobindo is not only a supreme Master himself but also a leader and. guide to all who wish to explore the endless vistas of the infinite Spiritual Muse.

23-6-1949

K, H, G.