Sri Aurobindo

Letters of Sri Aurobindo

Volume 2. 1936

Letter ID: 1736

Sri Aurobindo — Nirodbaran Talukdar

September 27, 1936

Good Lord! R said Devraj has no organic trouble!! X-ray shows definite and progressive T.B. – worse in the left lung.

Tomorrow I shall see Valle or André (supposed to be a specialist in T.B.) But how R could have missed the diagnosis gets past me – with all his big cures!

I think he did not take much interest in Devraj’s case and was inattentive. But he has been at far from his best recently. He used in outside cases to send me detailed reports of some examinations that were very helpful for action – but in D.L.’s case I knew nothing except that it was only her and it was critical until I got your letter.

“The sparkling surges of the sea

Roar and break...” – was the first version.

Can’t see how you got it in metrically. Besides the sea in poetry is always roaring and breaking. So why put it to that hard Sandow exercise once again?

“My consciousness flights from...” – metre?

It is not flighty metre, but a flighty use of language.

“Green trees” – no special significance?

If they were yellow or red trees, then there would be a significance. “Green” is objectionable, because trees manage to be green always without any special significance.

Suppose it was “... like those green trees

At evenfall”?

That would successfully get rid of any significance.

There you are or there am I... Please divinise the animal by your Supramental Inspiration.

Divinised! with quite fine results, though I say it. Turns out to be a fine beast after all.