Aurobindo 43 Savitri Book 2

An appreciation on Savitri Book Two:The Book of the Traveller of the Worlds Canto Seven:The Descent into Night Words within inverted commas are Aurobindo's 'A breath of disillusion and decadence Corrupting watched for Life's maturity And made to rot the full grain of the soul: Progress became a purveyor of Death.' 'A darkness settled on the heavy air; ' 'The lust that warps the spirit's natural good Replaced by a manufactured virtue and vice' The frank spontaneous impulse of the soul: 'In rejected heaps by a monotonous road The old simple delights were left to lie On the wasteland of life's descent to Night.' 'All knowledge was left a questioning Ignorance.' 'As from a womb obscure he saw emerge The body and visage of a dark Unseen Hidden behind the fair outsides of life.' 'Its dangerous commerce is our suffering's cause.' 'He followed the track of dim tremendous steps Returning to the night from which they came.' 'It was a no man's land of evil air, ' 'There unreality was Nature's lord: ' 'Each rainbow brilliance was a splendid lie; ' 'Announcing the advent of a perilous Form An ominous tread softened its dire footfall That none might understand or be on guard; ' 'The Fiend was visible but cloaked in light; ' 'His rigorous logic made the false seem true.' 'Attack sprang suddenly vehement and unseen; ' 'There was no truce and no safe place to rest; ' 'It was a world of battle and surprise.' 'All who were there lived for themselves alone; ' ............My consciousness this moment, O'Guru, I'm in awe....in invincible heights Ineffable Thee embellishing poetic creation My inquisitive apprehension, erring Thee may opine May there so, let Savitri in my self arise Aroused there so be knowledge and fortune =============================================== Note: Some more inspiring, descriptive and informative lines from Book 2 Canto 7 Page 204 A world that clung to the law of a slain Light Cherished the putrid corpses of dead truths, A darkness settled on the heavy air; It hunted the bright smile from Nature's lips And slew the native confidence in her heart And put fear's crooked look into her eyes. Page205 Afflicting Nature with the dual's lie, Their twin values whetted a forbidden zest, Made evil a relief from spurious good, The ego battened on righteousness and sin And each became an instrument of Hell. All beauty ended in an aging face; All power was dubbed a tyranny cursed by God A march of goddess figures dark and nude Alarmed the air with grandiose unease; Page 206 All was belied, yet thought itself the truth; All were beset but knew not of the siege: For none could see the authors of their fall. An unsubstantial Nihil guaranteed The falsehood of the forms this Nature took And made them seem awhile to be and live. A borrowed magic drew them from the Void; Each rainbow brilliance was a splendid lie; A beauty unreal graced a glamour face. Page 207 Joy nurtured tears and good an evil proved, But never out of evil one plucked good: A Power that laughed at the mischiefs of the world, An irony that joined the world's contraries And flung them into each other's arms to strive, Put a sardonic rictus on God's face. He deceived with wisdom, with virtue slew the soul And led to perdition by the heavenward path. Amazing the elect with holy lore He spoke as with the very voice of God. Page 208 Each friend might turn an enemy or spy, The hand one clasped ensleeved a dagger's stab And an embrace could be Doom's iron cage.