Sri Aurobindo

Letters of Sri Aurobindo

Volume 1

Letter ID: 121

Sri Aurobindo — Roy, Dilip Kumar

April 11, 1931

Yes, you can send the half-dozen prayers. I shall make time to read your new old poem. I see from a glance at it that you are spreading yourself out. Remember that in lyrical poetry this is a difficult process – one is apt to beat out the gold wire too thin, to replace it where it fails by apparent gold only. Shelley, Swinburne and many others fail by diffusion, except in a very few long poems – and are at their best when they are more brief. So, if you go in for lyrical lengths, much care will be needed – the principle must be to make each verse the best.