Sri Aurobindo

Letters of Sri Aurobindo

Volume 3

Letter ID: 804

Sri Aurobindo — Roy, Dilip Kumar

August 12, 1936

I had thought of giving you full respite from today for sometime. But Suryamukhi has arrived so I send. I have not fancied the red on the wrapper. It looks a counterfeit sort of thing – no life in it. What does Mother think of it and you? Please let me know at once (tomorrow morn.) as I have to ask Rameswar to change it immediately if so needed. Later it will be too-latish.

The design is good and the red is not at all bad – rather striking – likely to help the sale. So why change?

Since I send the book why not send you once more the poem of yesterday. I see the trouble. To our Bengali ear, it was all right, so I was almost felicitating myself too soon without suspecting the Accent Elf on the qui vive for my blunders. So I have let the rhyme go and stick to rhythm. Please correct. I have put lisping, mellow, love-gleam, and basking. Don’t know if these words are better. I have a feeling they are – it is for you to pronounce.

“Lisping” is all right, but “mellow”, “basking” seem very cheap because they are worn out often used expressions and ought not to be called in except when they help to create new effect. I think it was originally “slow hush,” why not “slow rich” and for “basking” I would suggest “adrift”. The lines are very picturesque, so something picturesque is needed throughout.

Tonight I won’t sing as I had a lot of work with servant and feel unmusical. But if tomorrow the Yuvarani comes to hear I will – perhaps. Not otherwise. I prefer now to meditate. Really I don’t so keenly care to sing for others nowadays. I hope that is a good augury. As for the rest it is all good. I feel a sense of purity, a freedom from the Old Adam etc., thanks to Mother’s grace whose grace too may now begin to dawn in the “trough of the dim night”. Augury shall we say? The poem did mean it anyhow.

Very good.

The good Promod Sen sends Rs. 10. He prays for a copy of Mother’s Conversations.

Given.