Sri Aurobindo

Letters on Poetry and Art

SABCL - Volume 27

Part 2. On His Own and Others’ Poetry
Section 3. Practical Guidance for Aspiring Writers
Guidance in Writing Poetry

Rhetoric and Eloquence [2]

I want to produce something Upanishadic. But I get no glimmering at all of the sovereignly spiritual-poetic. The poem, Yoga, which I am sending you, almost tells me what I should do to solve my difficulty; but the manner in which it tells seems to drive home the fact of my being so far from what I want — the sheer stupendous mantra.

I fear it is only eloquence — a long way from the mantra. From the point of view of a poetic eloquence there are some forceful lines and the rest is well done, but — there is too much play of the mind, not the hushed intense receptivity of the seer which is necessary for the mantra.

11 April 1933