On a dire whirlpool in the hurrying river,Sri Aurobindo
Collected Poems
CWSA.- Volume 2
Part Seven. Pondicherry
Sonnets from Manuscripts, c.
1934 – 1947
The Yogi on the Whirlpool
On a dire whirlpool in the hurrying river,
A life-stilled statue naked, bronze, severe,
He kept the posture of a deathless seer
Unshaken by the mad water’s leap and shiver.
Thought could not think in him, flesh could not quiver;
The feet of Time could not adventure here;
Only some unknown1 Power nude and austere,
Only a Silence mighty to deliver.
His spirit world-wide and companionless,
Seated above the torrent of the days
On the deep eddy that our being forms,
Silent sustained the huge creation’s stress,
Unchanged supporting Nature’s rounds and norms,
Immobile background of the cosmic race.
Earlier edition of this work: Sri Aurobindo Birth Century Library: Set in 30 volumes.- Volume 5.- Collected Poems.- Pondicherry: Sri Aurobindo Asram, 1972.- 625 p.
1 1972 ed. SABCL, vol.5: unborn