This book on Sri Aurobindo's poetry by Madhumita Dutta is a good attempt at studying the poems of a master poet, which puts into focus the evolving stages of the poet's consciousness in different phases of poetry writing. The selection and arranging of the material is carefully done and a reading of the book gives a fair idea of the variety of Sri Aurobindo's poetry, as far as theme, technique, form and style are concerned. An interesting feature of this analytical and critical study is the chapter on Aurobindonian poets, the 'legacy', which will arouse the interest of any curious reader. The book is surely worth recommending for the student, the scholar and for any lover of poetry and philosophy.
Madhumita Dutta is Associate Professor in English, Vidyasagar College for Women, Kolkata. She was awarded the Ph.D degree for her thesis on Sri Aurobindo's Savitri. She has presented papers at several International Conferences abroad. She has published articles in books and journals. She has authored five books till date.
SRI AUROBINDO was first and foremost a poet and remained so till the last. He was a poet all through his career, and his literary activity begins and ends with poetry. Whether politics, philosophy, mysticism or Yoga, poetry was his passionate mode of exposure in any activity he engaged in. In the transcription of a spiritual experience, or rendering an imaginative vision, teaching of ancient wisdom, or delivering higher knowledge, or philosophy, or as a political weapon, poetry was ever his great aide.
Much research has been devoted to the study of Sri Aurobindo as a poet, and much written on the various aspects of his poetry. Consequently, there is great divergence of opinion regarding this.
The multi-faceted, many-sided genius of Sri Aurobindo has been the topic of debate and criticism, and he has received good measure of praise and censure, especially where his poetry is concerned. He has been one of the most misjudged and misunderstood of poets.
But Sri Aurobindo himself always encouraged genuine criticism. It is easy to understand and enjoy poetry if we are aware of the poet's milieu, his background, his aims, and if possible, to ground oneself in the same level of consciousness as the poet himself. Evidently, there are many barriers to the understanding of Sri Aurobindo's poetry; especially difficult to comprehend are the short lyrics of his mature years, which are a direct transcription of spiritual realisations. So, it is advisable to take in a little at a time, and having informed oneself of his Yogic stance, and with a good knowledge of Aurobindonian Poetics. That of course, does not mean we have to fix and form rigid ideas about his poems, and what they mean, and anticipate what we may encounter in the poems. And in any case, readings of a text change according to the reader and also in relation to the society and culture in which they are read and studied. It is best to approach without any prejudiced preconceptions, as this poses a threat to any genuine criticism. Too many pre-conceived ideas and predispositions steer us far away from the right line of thought, and we read so much of our own ideas into the poem that all spirit of honest criticism is lost. It is best to know something of the background of the age in which the poet lived and composed, and something of his personality, and also of his cultural and literary inheritance, and cull the meaning of any poem inherently from the written words. This is the spirit in which I have approached so vast a subject as the poetry of Sri Aurobindo-poetry, which is intimately linked with the web of his life in all its lapses and phases.
At the very outset I wish to confess that my approach is less of a critic than as a participant. Here is no personal judgement, only a reading. Scanning the poems has been a creative reading for me, a great enjoyment. My own imagination played a sweet part sometimes, dwelling in the landscapes of Sri Aurobindo's poems, especially the Romantic ones. Being in the company of the great poet's thoughts is itself a blessing, and has greatly benefitted my whole being. It has been a delightful journey, an 'infinite adventure', and hopefully, may this be the beginning of the Adventure into the Infinite! But that does not mean that there are fully ingenious readings. Wherever it seems I have wavered from the 'intended' meaning of the poet, it is because that is the way my mind has been able to comprehend the poet's language. Of course, a poem may be read and approached in more than one way (especially with the invasion of literary theories today), but that cannot be my excuse for lack of keener perception or deeper probing. However, it is not my purpose to theorize-that steals away much of the pleasures of poetry. I see it, approach it, seek it as a seeker of the True and the Beautiful in life. Neither do I wish to place Sri Aurobindo and his poetry in any context of 'colonialism', 'post-colonialism', 'post-modernism' or any other category, because Sri Aurobindo's poetry is a class apart, a different genre when considered as a whole, and that is what I have sought to present here.
SRI AUROBINDO'S poetry needs either no 'introduction' at all, or a very long one. Maintaining the conventions of a standard book, I have attempted to introduce the genre of Aurobindonian poetry. Considering the volume of his poetical works, and what he wrote, it is a cult in itself, and includes many types and varieties. It is personal, imaginative, spiritual, universal, philosophical; it is rooted in life and seeks its meaning in the Transcendent. Sri Aurobindo's poetry is not great because of its immense variety, but more so because of its inclusiveness, integration of the variety. Into the poetic mould he put his thoughts, experiences, imaginative creations, love, pain and ecstasy, as also the beauty, ugliness and horror of life, death and beyond. In fact, poetry is something universal. The poet's eye sees the poetry of God everywhere-in the blue sky, in the twinkling stars, in the vast seas, in the dark forest, in the horrors of war, in a finely crafted piece of jewellery, in the exquisite robe of the Queen, in the fine arts, in a beautiful piece of painting or sculpture. There is poetry in the air, but the poetic possibility of the 'mossy stone' and the 'dark and deep woods' is seized only by the poet's mind and presented to us in the poetic cast. Poetry is not confined to literature alone, or in the written word; it encompasses Life itself, and brings down the Truth and Beauty of the life beyond life through the Mantric rhythm.
As the subject matter of poetry is infinite, so is the poetical experience. There are different levels of inspiration, of experience, varied emotions, multi-ranging sources of creation. This is especially true of Sri Aurobindo's poetry, as poetry was his field of experimentation in many ways. What poetry offers to the reader, delight, pleasure, moral lesson, or food for thought, differs and depends according to the reader's response, attitude and temperament, and the aim with which one takes up a volume of poems to read or study. We must note that there is nothing called 'good' or 'bad' poetry. This kind of classification is meaningless. 'Good' is an unnecessary epithet, because poetry is Beauty and Delight, and it follows that what is essentially good, cannot be bad. So 'bad' poetry does not exist, it is a meaningless oxymoron. Even if the subject of a poem is ugly or not good, in the poetic cast we get a transformed shape of it-it is the poet's 'mill of the mind' which transforms the ugly into the beautiful. What we get in the final form is the 'essence' or 'rasa' of the thing as poetry. 'Life-emotion is transcreated into the 'artistic-emotion'. Our ancient philosophers have told us about the two sweet fruits growing on the tree of life-one is the enjoyment of poetry, which is like nectar against the poison of life, and the other is association with good people. Art ennobles, elevates and liberates that is the characteristic of great art. This is unlike the thoughts of the great philosopher Plato who does not give high credit to poets or makers, but finds in them the gross deficiency of dealing with 'appearances' only. Thus, far away from the 'real' or the 'reality', he justly thought that poets and their poetry 'maim the thoughts of those who hear them Poetry, instead of being a mode of liberation became a tool for enslavement to lower emotions, and as such ought to be banned, in all fairness, from good society. But even Plato knew and admitted the connectedness of art and life. Therefore, only that which ennobles and raises was to be part of, and allowed in the community. Plato had subordinated narrative to reason, myth to transcendent truth. He took care not to let his citizens fall under the spell of the 'sweetened Muse'. Yet, it will be wrong to say that Plato simply rejected 'mythos' in favour of rational 'logos'. His position here is ambivalent. He talked about a timeless world of the Forms'-the universal essences, which alone were Real. He opposed the eternal order of being (above) to the temporal chaos of becoming (below). The world of sensual experience, the dark underground cavern, can be transcended by higher powers of the mind. As the hero/philosopher escapes and sees the sun-by the faculty of reason transcends the illusory world. Indian philosophers, however, felt that any work deserving the name of art enriches, and thus is to be brought closer to life and guide it. Sri Aurobindo believed more in the theory of Art for the soul's sake, the spirit's sake'.
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