Sri Aurobindo

Letters of Sri Aurobindo

SABCL 26

Fragment ID: 7967

Q: Is there any advantage in changing the phrase –

as though a press

Of benediction lay on me unseen –

to

as though the press

Of a benediction lay on me unseen?

A: No, no. The first was immeasurably better. “A press of benediction” is striking and effective; “the press of a benediction” is flat and means nothing. Besides, it is not good English. You can say “a press of affairs”, “a press of matter”; you can say “the pressure of this affair”, but you cannot say “the press of an affair”.

1931