Sri Aurobindo

Letters of Sri Aurobindo

CWSA 27

Fragment ID: 6602

Bengali Overhead Poetry

We are sorry to hear that you can’t decide about Bengali overhead poetry. I consider it a defect, Sir, in your poetic supramental make-up, which you should try to mend or remove!

Why a defect? In any case all qualities have their defects, which are also a quality. For the rest, by your logic, I ought to be able to pronounce on the merits of Czechoslovakian or Arabic poetry. To pronounce whether a rhythm is O.P. or not, one must have an infallible ear for overtones and undertones of the sound music of the language – that expertness I have not got with regard to Bengali.

23 September 1938