Sri Aurobindo

Letters of Sri Aurobindo

Volume 2. 1938

Letter ID: 2219

Sri Aurobindo — Nirodbaran Talukdar

October 27, 1938

Guru, you say that I have “a much greater mastery of expression” now; that’s something. I am now trying to read some English poems of poets suggested by you.

Which of them?

I have doubts here about the lines 4, 7, 12 and the last.

[“Whence leaps the splendour of the Infinite”,

“My human heart begins to understand”,

“The secret Truth hidden in thy heart’s sphere”,

“Upon the sombre shore of memories”.]

They seem to be simple!

My dear sir, these lines are simply exquisite (simply in both senses) – all four indeed, precisely because they are so simple that the emotion and experience go straight through without a veil.

You asked me to read Hardy, Spender, Meredith, Hopkins, besides De la Mare, A.E. and Yeats ... But how will Meredith and others help? Their poetry has nothing in common with ours, except the turn of expression, if that’s what you mean. Please tell me whom I should take up first and how I should proceed.

[No reply.]