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

Originality [3]

I feel Jyoti’s poem is an exceedingly fine piece and some expressions are remarkably original, aren’t they?

Yes, quite so. It is the freedom from the intellectual limitations which bring in these original expressions — as in many English poets. Ordinarily in French, or in Bengali, (French before Mallarmé and the Symbolists) there is too much lucidity and rationality to let these things get through.

29 October 1936