Sri Aurobindo

Letters of Sri Aurobindo

Volume 1

Letter ID: 193

Sri Aurobindo — Roy, Dilip Kumar

1932 (?)

(On Sri Aurobindo’s translation of Dilip’s poem, “Priestess of the Unseen Light,” reproduced on the facing page.)

This is the best I could make of it; I think it ought to do. K. Sen’s translation is far from bad, but it is not perfect either and uses too many oft-heard locutions without bringing in the touch of magic that would save them. Besides, his metre in spite of his trying to lighten it, is one of the common and obvious metres which are almost proof against subtlety of movement. It may be mathematically more equivalent to yours, but there is an underrunning lilt of celestial dance in your rhythm which he tries to get but, because of the limitations of the metre, cannot manage. I think my iambic-anapaestic choice is better fitted to catch the dance-lilt and keep it.