Nirodbaran

Correspondence with Sri Aurobindo

Second Series

2. Art and Literature

Mystic Poetry

II. Imagination and Experience in Poetry

How can “anything” be used in a poem? A slight change makes all the difference between something forceful and a mere literary expression that misses its mark.

X argues, “E said many things that she used to imagine. She herself considered them experiences.”

How do you know that E's sayings are only imaginations? If so, they are very remarkable imaginations for a child of that age. They might be the communications of her inner being to her mind. A few children have that in a degree, in some it takes the form of imagination – E had it in a very unusual degree. I hope the elders will not knock this rare gift out of her by their misunderstanding and want of sympathy.

27.05.1936