{"id":3007,"date":"2013-07-13T01:45:19","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:45:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=3007"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:45:19","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:45:19","slug":"17-poems-from-ahana-and-other-poems-contd-vol-02-collected-poems","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/01-works-of-sri-aurobindo\/03-cwsa\/02-collected-poems\/17-poems-from-ahana-and-other-poems-contd-vol-02-collected-poems","title":{"rendered":"-17_Poems from Ahana and Other Poems – Contd.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\n\n
\n

 <\/td>\n

\n<\/p>\n

\n
\nA Child’s Imagination<\/a><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tO thou golden image,<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tMiniature of bliss,<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tSpeaking sweetly, speaking meetly!<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tEvery word deserves a kiss.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tStrange, remote and splendid<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tChildhood’s fancy pure<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tThrills to thoughts we cannot fathom,<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tQuick felicities obscure.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tWhen the eyes grow solemn<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tLaughter fades away,<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tNature of her mighty childhood<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tRecollects the Titan play;<\/span><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tWoodlands touched by sunlight<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tWhere the elves abode,<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tGiant meetings, Titan greetings,<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tFancies of a youthful God.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tThese are coming on thee<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tIn thy secret thought;<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tGod remembers in thy bosom<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tAll the wonders that He wrought.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\tThe Sea at Night<\/a><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nThe grey sea creeps half-visible, half-hushed,<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tAnd grasps with its innumerable hands<\/span><\/p>\n

\nThese silent walls. I see beyond a rough<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tGlimmering infinity, I feel the wash<\/span><\/p>\n

\nAnd hear the sibilation of the waves<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 211<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\nThat whisper to each other as they push<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tTo shoreward side by side,  \u2014  long
\n\t\t\tlines and dim<\/span><\/p>\n

\nOf movement flecked with quivering spots of foam,<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tThe quiet welter of a shifting world.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\nThe Vedantin’s Prayer<\/a><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tSpirit Supreme<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tWho musest in the silence of the heart,<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tEternal gleam,<\/span><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nThou only Art!<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tAh, wherefore with this darkness am I veiled,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nMy sunlit part<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tBy clouds assailed?<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tWhy am I thus disfigured by desire,<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tDistracted, haled,<\/span><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nScorched by the fire<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tOf fitful passions, from thy peace out-thrust<\/span><\/p>\n

\nInto the gyre<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tOf every gust?<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tBetrayed to grief, o’ertaken with dismay,<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tSurprised by lust?<\/span><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nLet not my grey<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tBlood-clotted past repel thy sovereign ruth,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nNor even delay,<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tO lonely Truth!<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tNor let the specious gods who ape Thee still<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tDeceive my youth.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 212<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\nThese clamours still;<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tFor I would hear the eternal voice and know<\/span><\/p>\n

\nThe eternal Will.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tThis brilliant show<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tCumbering the threshold of eternity<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tDispel,  \u2014  bestow<\/span><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nThe undimmed eye,<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tThe heart grown young and clear. Rebuke in me<\/span><\/p>\n

\nThese hopes that cry<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tSo deafeningly,<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tRemove my sullied centuries, restore<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tMy purity.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nO hidden door<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tOf Knowledge, open! Strength, fulfil thyself!<\/span><\/p>\n

\nLove, outpour!<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\tRebirth<\/a><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nNot soon is God’s delight in us completed,<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tNor with one life we end;<\/span><\/p>\n

\nTermlessly in us are our spirits seated,<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tA termless joy intend.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nOur souls and heaven are of an equal stature<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tAnd have a dateless birth;<\/span><\/p>\n

\nThe unending seed, the infinite mould of Nature,<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tThey were not made on earth,<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nNor to the earth do they bequeath their ashes,<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tBut in themselves they last.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nAn endless future brims beneath thy lashes,<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tChild of an endless past.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 213<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\nOld memories come to us, old dreams invade us,<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tLost people we have known,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nFictions and pictures; but their frames evade us,  \u2014
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tThey stand out bare, alone.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nYet all we dream and hope are memories treasured,<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tAre forecasts we misspell,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nBut of what life or scene he who has measured<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tThe boundless heavens can tell.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nTime is a strong convention; future and present<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tWere living in the past;<\/span><\/p>\n

\nThey are one image that our wills complaisant<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tInto three schemes have cast.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nOur past that we forget, is with us deathless,<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tOur births and later end<\/span><\/p>\n

\nAlready accomplished. To a summit breathless<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tSometimes our souls ascend,<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nWhence the mind comes back helped; for there emerges<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tThe ocean vast of Time<\/span><\/p>\n

\nSpread out before us with its infinite surges,<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tIts symphonies sublime;<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nAnd even from this veil of mind the spirit<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tLooks out sometimes and sees<\/span><\/p>\n

\nThe bygone aeons that our lives inherit,<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tThe unborn centuries:<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nIt sees wave-trampled realms expel the Ocean,  \u2014 <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tFrom the vague depths uphurled<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tWhere now Him\u00e2loy  stands, the flood’s huge
\n\t\t\tmotion<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tSees measuring half the world;<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 214<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\nOr else the web behind us is unravelled<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tAnd on its threads we gaze,  \u2014 <\/span> <\/p>\n

\nPast motions of the stars, scenes long since travelled<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tIn Time’s far-backward days.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\nThe Triumph-Song of Trishuncou<\/a><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tI shall not die.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tAlthough this body, when the spirit tires<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tOf its cramped residence, shall feed the fires,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nMy house consumes, not I.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tLeaving that case<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tI find out ample and ethereal room.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tMy spirit shall avoid the hungry tomb,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nDeceiving death’s embrace.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tNight shall contain<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tThe sun in its cold depths; Time too must cease;<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tThe stars that labour shall have their release.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nI cease not, I remain.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tEre the first seeds<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tWere sown on earth, I was already old,<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tAnd when now unborn planets shall grow cold<\/span><\/p>\n

\nMy history proceeds.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tI am the light<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tIn stars, the strength of lions and the joy<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tOf mornings; I am man and maid and boy,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nProtean, infinite.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tI am a tree<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tThat stands out singly from the infinite blue;<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tI am the quiet falling of the dew<\/span><\/p>\n

\nAnd am the unmeasured sea.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 215<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\nI hold the sky<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tTogether and upbear the teeming earth.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tI was the eternal thinker at my birth<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tAnd shall be, though I die.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nLife and Death<\/a><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tLife, death,  \u2014  death, life; the words
\n\t\t\thave led for ages<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tOur thought and consciousness and firmly seemed<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tTwo opposites; but now long-hidden pages<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tAre opened, liberating truths undreamed.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tLife only is, or death is life disguised,  \u2014
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nLife a short death until by life we are surprised.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\tEvening<\/a><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nA golden evening, when the thoughtful sun<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tRejects its usual pomp in going, trees<\/span><\/p>\n

\nThat bend down to their green companion<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tAnd fruitful mother, vaguely whispering,  \u2014 
\n\t\t\tthese<\/span><\/p>\n

\nAnd a wide silent sea. Such hour is nearest God,  \u2014
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tRich like old age when the long ways have all
\n\t\t\tbeen trod.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nParabrahman<\/a><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tThese wanderings of the suns, these stars at play<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tIn the due measure that they chose of old,<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tNor only these, but all the immense array<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tOf objects that long Time, far Space can hold,<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 216<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\nAre divine moments. They are thoughts that form,<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tThey are vision in the Self of things august<\/span><\/p>\n

\nAnd therefore grandly real. Rule and norm<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tAre processes that they themselves adjust.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nThe Self of things is not their outward view,<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tA Force within decides. That Force is He;<\/span><\/p>\n

\nHis movement is the shape of things we knew,<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tMovement of Thought is Space and Time. A free<\/span><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nAnd sovereign master of His world within,<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tHe is not bound by what He does or makes,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nHe is not bound by virtue or by sin,<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tAwake who sleeps and when He sleeps awakes.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nHe is not bound by waking or by sleep;<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tHe is not bound by anything at all.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nLaws are that He may conquer them. To creep<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tOr soar is at His will, to rise or fall.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nOne from of old possessed Himself above<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tWho was not anyone nor had a form,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nNor yet was formless. Neither hate nor love<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tCould limit His perfection, peace nor storm.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nHe is, we cannot say; for Nothing too<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tIs His conception of Himself unguessed.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nHe dawns upon us and we would pursue,<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tBut who has found Him or what arms possessed?<\/span><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nHe is not anything, yet all is He;<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tHe is not all but far exceeds that scope.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nBoth Time and Timelessness sink in that sea:<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tTime is a wave and Space a wandering drop.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 217<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\nWithin Himself He shadowed Being forth,<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tWhich is a younger birth, a veil He chose<\/span><\/p>\n

\nTo half-conceal Him, Knowledge, nothing worth<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tSave to have glimpses of its mighty cause,<\/span><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nAnd high Delight, a spirit infinite,<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tThat is the fountain of this glorious world,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nDelight that labours in its opposite,<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tFaints in the rose and on the rack is curled.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nThis was the triune playground that He made<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tAnd One there sports awhile. He plucks His
\n\t\t\tflowers<\/span><\/p>\n

\nAnd by His bees is stung; He is dismayed,<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tFlees from Himself or has His sullen hours.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nThe Almighty One knew labour, failure, strife;<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tKnowledge forgot divined itself again:<\/span><\/p>\n

\nHe made an eager death and called it life,<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tHe stung Himself with bliss and called it pain.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nGod<\/a><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tThou who pervadest all the worlds below,<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tYet sitst above,<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tMaster of all who work and rule and know,<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tServant of Love!<\/span><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tThou who disdainest not the worm to be<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tNor even the clod,<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tTherefore we know by that humility<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tThat thou art God.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 218<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\nThe Fear of Death<\/a><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tDeath wanders through our lives at will, sweet
\n\t\t\tDeath<\/span><\/p>\n

\nIs busy with each intake of our breath.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tWhy do you fear her? Lo, her laughing face<\/span><\/p>\n

\nAll rosy with the light of jocund grace!<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tA kind and lovely maiden culling flowers<\/span><\/p>\n

\nIn a sweet garden fresh with vernal showers,<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tThis is the thing you fear, young portress bright<\/span><\/p>\n

\nWho opens to our souls the worlds of light.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tIs it because the twisted stem must feel<\/span><\/p>\n

\nPain when the tenderest hands its glory steal?<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tIs it because the flowerless stalk droops dull<\/span><\/p>\n

\nAnd ghastly now that was so beautiful?<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tOr is it the opening portal’s horrid jar<\/span><\/p>\n

\nThat shakes you, feeble souls of courage bare?<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tDeath is but changing of our robes to wait<\/span><\/p>\n

\nIn wedding garments at the Eternal’s gate.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\tSeasons<\/a><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nDay and night begin, you tell me,<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tWhen the sun may choose to set or rise.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nWell, it may be; but for me their changing<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tIs determined only by her eyes.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nSummer, spring, the fruitless winter<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tHinge, you say, upon the heavenly sun?<\/span><\/p>\n

\nOh, but I have known a yearlong winter!<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tSpring was by her careless smiles begun.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 219<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n\t\t\t <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  A Child’s Imagination   O thou golden image, Miniature of bliss, Speaking sweetly, speaking meetly! Every word deserves a kiss.   Strange, remote and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3007","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-02-collected-poems","wpcat-57-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3007","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3007"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3007\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3007"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3007"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3007"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}