{"id":3311,"date":"2013-07-13T01:47:25","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:47:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=3311"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:47:25","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:47:25","slug":"19-book-9-canto-1-towards-the-black-void-vol-02-savitri-1951","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/01-works-of-sri-aurobindo\/02-other-editions\/01-savitri\/02-savitri-1951\/19-book-9-canto-1-towards-the-black-void-vol-02-savitri-1951","title":{"rendered":"-19_Book 9 Canto 1 Towards The Black Void.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

\nPART THREE<\/b><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n(Books IX-XII)<\/b><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nBOOK NINE<\/b><\/i><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nThe Book of Eternal Night<\/b><\/i><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n

<\/p>\n

CANTO ONE<\/font><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\nTOWARDS THE
\nBLACK VOID<\/font><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\t\t\t <\/td>\n\n

\nS<\/font>O
\nwas she left alone in the huge wood, <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nSurrounded by a dim unthinking
\nworld,<\/P><\/p>\n

Her
\nhusband's corpse on her forsaken breast.<\/p>\n

She
\nmeasured not her loss with helpless thoughts,<\/p>\n

Nor rent
\nwith tears the marble seals of pain: <\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nShe rose not yet to face the
\ndreadful god.<\/P><\/p>\n

Over the
\nbody she loved her soul leaned out<\/p>\n

In a
\ngreat stillness without stir or voice,<\/p>\n

As if
\nher mind had died with Satyavan.<\/p>\n

But
\nstill the human heart in her beat on.<\/p>\n

Aware
\nstill of his being near to hers,<\/p>\n

\nClosely she clasped to her the mute lifeless form<\/p>\n

As
\nthough to guard the oneness they had been<\/p>\n

And keep
\nthe spirit still within the frame.<\/p>\n

Then
\nsuddenly there came on her the change<\/p>\n

Which in
\ntremendous moments of our lives<\/p>\n

Can
\novertake sometimes the human soul<\/p>\n

And hold
\nit up towards its luminous source.<\/p>\n

The veil
\nis torn, the thinker is no more: <\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nOnly the spirit sees and all is
\nknown.<\/P><\/p>\n

Then a
\ncalm Power seated above our brows<\/p>\n

Is seen,
\nunshaken by our thoughts and deeds,<\/p>\n

Its
\nstillness bears the voices of the world: <\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nImmobile, it moves Nature, looks on
\nlife.<\/P><\/p>\n

It
\nshapes immutably its far-seen ends; <\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nUntouched and tranquil amid error
\nand tears<\/P><\/p>\n

And
\nmeasureless above our striving wills,<\/p>\n

Its gaze
\ncontrols the turbulent whirl of things.<\/p>\n

To mate
\nwith the Glory it sees, the spirit grows: <\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nThe voice of life is tuned to
\ninfinite sounds, <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\n

Page  207<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nThe moments on great wings of
\nlightning come<\/P><\/p>\n

And
\ngodlike thoughts surprise the mind of earth.<\/p>\n

Into the
\nsoul's splendour and intensity<\/p>\n

A
\ncrescent of miraculous birth is tossed,<\/p>\n

Whose
\nhorn of mystery floats in a bright void<\/p>\n

As into
\na heaven of strength and silence, thought<\/p>\n

Is
\nravished; all this living mortal clay<\/p>\n

Is
\nseized and in a swift and fiery flood<\/p>\n

Of
\ntouches shaped by a Harmonist unseen.<\/p>\n

A new
\nsight comes, new voices in us form<\/p>\n

A body
\nof the music of the gods.<\/p>\n

\nImmortal yearnings without name leap down,<\/p>\n

Large
\nquiverings of godhead seeking run<\/p>\n

And
\nweave upon a puissant field of calm<\/p>\n

A high
\nand lonely ecstasy of will.<\/p>\n

This in
\na moment's depths was born in her.<\/p>\n

Now to
\nthe limitless gaze disclosed that sees<\/p>\n

Things
\nbarred from human thinking's earthly lids,<\/p>\n

The
\nSpirit who had hidden in nature soared<\/p>\n

<\/P><\/font><\/p>\n

\nOut of his luminous nest within the
\nworlds.<\/p>\n

Like a
\nvast fire it climbed the skies of night.<\/p>\n

Thus
\nwere the cords of self-oblivion torn.<\/p>\n

Like one
\nwho looks up to far heights she saw,<\/p>\n

\nAncient and strong as on a windless summit<\/p>\n

Above
\nher where she had worked in her lone mind<\/p>\n

\nLabouring apart in a sole tower of self,<\/p>\n

The
\nsource of all which she had seemed or wrought,<\/p>\n

A power
\nprojected into cosmic space,<\/p>\n

A slow
\nembodiment of the aeonic will,<\/p>\n

A starry
\nfragment of the eternal Truth,<\/p>\n

The
\npassionate instrument of an unmoved Power.<\/p>\n

A
\nPresence was there that filled the listening world,<\/p>\n

A
\ncentral All assumed her boundless life.<\/p>\n

A
\nsovereignty, a silence and a swiftness,<\/p>\n

One
\nbrooded over abysses who was she.<\/p>\n

As in a
\nchoric robe of unheard sounds<\/p>\n

A force
\ndescended trailing endless lights; <\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nLinking Time's seconds to Infinity,<\/P><\/p>\n

\nIllimitably it girt the earth and her:
\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nIt sank into her soul and she was
\nchanged. <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\n

Page   208<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nThen like a thought fulfilled by
\nsome great word<\/P><\/p>\n

That
\nmightiness assumed a symbol form; <\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nHer being's spaces quivered with
\nits touch, <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nIt covered her as with immortal
\nwings, <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nOn its lips the curve of the
\nunuttered Truth, <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nA halo of Wisdom's lightnings for
\nits crown, <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nIt entered the mystic lotus in her
\nhead, <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nA thousand-petalled home of power
\nand light. <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nImmortal leader of her mortality, <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nDoer of her works and fountain of
\nher words, <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nInvulnerable by Time, omnipotent, <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nIt stood above her calm, immobile,
\nmute. <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n     All in her
\nmated with that mighty hour,<\/P><\/p>\n

As if
\nthe last remnant had been slain by Death<\/p>\n

Of the
\nhumanity that once was hers.<\/p>\n

\nAssuming a spiritual wide control,<\/p>\n

Making
\nlife's sea a mirror of heaven's sky,<\/p>\n

The
\nyoung divinity in her earthly limbs<\/p>\n

Filled
\nwith celestial strength her mortal part.<\/p>\n

Over was
\nthe haunted pain, the rending fear: <\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nHer grief had passed away, her mind
\nwas still,<\/P><\/p>\n

Her
\nheart beat quietly with a sovereign force.<\/p>\n

There
\ncame a freedom from the heart-strings' clutch,<\/p>\n

Now all
\nher acts sprang from a godhead's calm.<\/p>\n

Calmly
\nshe laid upon the forest soil<\/p>\n

The dead
\nwho still reposed upon her breast<\/p>\n

And bore
\nto turn away from the dead form: <\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nSole now she rose to meet the
\ndreadful god.<\/P><\/p>\n

That
\nmightier spirit turned its mastering gaze<\/p>\n

On life
\nand things, inheritor of a work<\/p>\n

Left to
\nit unfinished from her halting past,<\/p>\n

When yet
\nthe mind, a passionate learner, toiled<\/p>\n

And
\nill-shaped instruments were crudely moved.<\/p>\n

\nTranscended now was the poor human rule; <\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nA sovereign power was there, a
\ngodlike will.<\/P><\/p>\n

A moment
\nyet she lingered motionless<\/p>\n

And
\nlooked down on the dead man at her feet<\/p>\n

Then
\nlike a tree recovering from a wind<\/p>\n

She
\nraised her noble head; fronting her gaze <\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nPage  209<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nSomething stood there, unearthly,
\nsombre, grand, <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nA limitless denial of all being <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nThat wore the terror and wonder of
\na shape. <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nIn its appalling eyes the tenebrous
\nForm <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nBore the deep pity of destroying
\ngods, <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nA sorrowful irony curved the
\ndreadful lips <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nThat speak the word of doom.
\nEternal Night, <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nIn the dire beauty of an immortal
\nface, <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nPitying arose, receiving all that
\nlives <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nFor ever into its fathomless heart,
\nrefuge <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nOf creatures from their anguish and
\nworld-pain. <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nHis shape was nothingness made
\nreal, his limbs <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nWere monuments of transience and
\nbeneath <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nBrows of unwearying calm large
\ngodlike lids <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nSilent beheld the writhing serpent,
\nlife. <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nUnmoved their timeless wide
\nunchanging gaze <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nHad seen the unprofitable cycles
\npass, <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nSurvived the passing of unnumbered
\nstars <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nAnd sheltered still the same
\nimmutable orbs. <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nThe two opposed each other with
\ntheir eyes, <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nWoman and universal god: around
\nher, <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nPiling their void unbearable
\nloneliness <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nUpon her mighty uncompanioned soul, <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nMany inhuman solitudes came close. <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nVacant eternities forbidding hope <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nLaid upon her their huge and
\nlifeless look, <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nAnd to her ears silencing earthly
\nsounds, <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nA sad and formidable voice arose <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nWhich seemed the whole adverse
\nworld's. "Unclasp", it cried, <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\n"Thy passionate influence and
\nrelax, 0 slave <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nOf Nature, changing tool of
\nchangeless Law, <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nWho vainly writhst rebellion to my
\nyoke, <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nThy elemental grasp, weep and
\nforget. <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nEntomb thy passion in its living
\ngrave. <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nLeave now the once-loved spirit's
\nabandoned robe: <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nPass lonely back to thy vain life
\non earth."<\/P><\/p>\n

It
\nceased, she moved not and it spoke again,<\/p>\n

\nLowering its mighty key to human chords,<\/p>\n

Yet a
\ndread cry behind the uttered sounds,<\/p>\n

\nEchoing all sadness and immortal scorn, <\/p>\n

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

\n

Page  210<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nMoaned like a hunger of far
\nwandering waves.<\/P><\/p>\n

"Wilt
\nthou for ever keep thy passionate hold,<\/p>\n

\nThyself, a creature doomed like him to pass,<\/p>\n

\nDenying his soul death's calm and silent rest?<\/p>\n

Relax
\nthy grasp, this body is earth's and thine,<\/p>\n

His
\nspirit now belongs to a greater power.<\/p>\n

Woman,
\nthy husband suffers." Savitri<\/p>\n

Drew
\nback her heart's force that clasped his body still<\/p>\n

Where
\nfrom her lap renounced on the smooth grass<\/p>\n

Softly
\nit lay, as often before in sleep<\/p>\n

When
\nfrom their couch she rose in the white dawn<\/p>\n

Called
\nby her daily tasks: now too as if called<\/p>\n

She rose
\nand stood gathered in lonely strength,<\/p>\n

Like one
\nwho drops his mantle for a race<\/p>\n

And
\nwaits the signal, motionlessly swift.<\/p>\n

She knew
\nnot to what course: her spirit above<\/p>\n

On the
\ncrypt-summit of her secret form<\/p>\n

Like one
\nleft sentinel on a mountain crest.<\/p>\n

A
\nfiery-footed splendour puissant-winged<\/p>\n

\nWatched flaming-silent with her voiceless sold<\/p>\n

Like a
\nstill sail upon a windless sea.<\/p>\n

White
\npassionless it rode, an anchored might,<\/p>\n

\nWaiting what far-ridged impulse should arise<\/p>\n

Out of
\nthe eternal depths and cast its surge.<\/p>\n

Then
\nDeath, the king, leaned boundless down, as leans<\/p>\n

Night
\nover tired lands when evening pales<\/p>\n

And
\nfading gleams break down the horizon's walls,<\/p>\n

Nor yet
\nthe dusk grows mystic with the moon.<\/p>\n

The dim
\nand awful godhead rose erect<\/p>\n

From his
\nbrief stooping to his touch on earth,<\/p>\n

And like
\na dream that wakes out of a dream,<\/p>\n

\nForsaking the poor mould of that dead clay,<\/p>\n

\nAnother luminous Satyavan arose,<\/p>\n

\nStarting upright from the recumbent earth<\/p>\n

As if
\nsomeone over viewless borders stepped<\/p>\n

\nEmerging on the edge of unseen worlds.<\/p>\n

In the
\nearth's day the silent marvel stood<\/p>\n

\nBetween the mortal woman and the god.<\/p>\n

Such
\nseemed he as if one departed came<\/p>\n

\nWearing the light of a celestial shape <\/p>\n

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

\n

Page  211<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nSplendidly alien to the mortal air. <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nThe mind sought things long loved
\nand fell back foiled <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nFrom unfamiliar hues, beheld yet
\nlonged, <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nBy the sweet radiant form
\nunsatisfied, <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nIncredulous of its too bright hints
\nof heaven; <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nToo strange the brilliant phantasm
\nto life's clasp<\/P><\/p>\n

\nDesiring the warm creations of the earth<\/p>\n

Reared
\nin the ardour of material suns,<\/p>\n

The
\nsenses seized in vain a glorious shade: <\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nOnly the spirit knew the spirit
\nstill, <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nAnd the heart divined the old loved
\nheart, though changed. <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nBetween two realms he stood, not
\nwavering, <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nBut fixed in quiet strong
\nexpectancy, <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nLike one who, sightless, listens
\nfor a command. <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nSo were they immobile on that
\nearthly field, <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nPowers not of earth, though one in
\nhuman clay. <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nOn either side of one two spirits
\nstrove; <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nSilence battled with silence, vast
\nwith vast.<\/P><\/p>\n

But now
\nthe impulse of the Path was felt<\/p>\n

Moving
\nfrom the Silence that supports the stars<\/p>\n

To touch
\nthe confines of the visible world.<\/p>\n

\nLuminous he moved away; behind him Death<\/p>\n

Went
\nslowly with his noiseless tread, as seen<\/p>\n

In
\ndream-built fields a shadowy herdsman glides<\/p>\n

Behind
\nsome wanderer from his voiceless herds,<\/p>\n

And
\nSavitri moved behind eternal Death,<\/p>\n

Her
\nmortal pace was equalled with the god's.<\/p>\n

\nWordless she travelled in her lover's steps,<\/p>\n

\nPlanting her human feet where his had trod,<\/p>\n

Into the
\nperilous silences beyond. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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

\n

\n     At first
\nin a blind stress of woods she moved<\/P><\/p>\n

With
\nstrange inhuman paces on the soil,<\/p>\n

\nJourneying as if upon an unseen road.<\/p>\n

Around
\nher on the green and imaged earth<\/p>\n

The
\nflickering screen of forests ringed her steps-<\/p>\n

Its
\nthick luxurious obstacle of boughs<\/p>\n

\nBesieged her body pressing dimly through<\/p>\n

<\/P><\/font><\/p>\n

\nIn a rich realm of whispers
\npalpable,<\/p>\n

And all
\nthe murmurous beauty of the leaves <\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nPage  212<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nRippled around her like an emerald
\nrobe. <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nBut more and more this grew an
\nalien sound, <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nAnd her old intimate body seemed to
\nher <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nA burden which her being remotely
\nbore. <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nHerself lived far in some uplifted
\nscene <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nWhere to the trance-chained vision
\nof pursuit, <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nSole presences in a high spaceless
\ndream, <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nThe luminous spirit glided stilly
\non <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nAnd the great shadow travelled
\nvague behind. <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nStill with an amorous crowd of
\nseeking hands <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nSoftly entreated by their old
\ndesires <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nHer senses felt earth's close and
\ngentle air <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nding round them and in troubled
\nbranches knew <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nUncertain (readings of a faint-foot
\nwind: <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nShe bore dim fragrances, far
\ncallings touched,<\/P><\/p>\n

The wild
\nbird's voice and its winged rustle came<\/p>\n

As if a
\nsigh from some forgotten world.<\/p>\n

Earth
\nstood aloof, yet near: round her it wove<\/p>\n

Its
\nsweetness and its greenness and delight, ; <\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nIts brilliance suave of well-loved
\nvivid hues, <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nSunlight arriving to its golden
\nnoon, <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nAnd the blue heavens and the
\ncaressing soil. <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nThe ancient Mother offered to her
\nchild <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nHer simple world of kind familiar
\nthings. <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nBut now as if the body's sensuous
\nhold <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nCurbing the godhead of her infinite
\nwalk <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nHad freed those spirits to their
\ngrander road <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nAcross some boundary's intangible
\nbar, <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nThe silent god grew mighty and
\nremote <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nIn other spaces and the soul she
\nloved <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nLost its consenting nearness to her
\nlife. <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nInto a deep and unfamiliar air <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nEnormous, windless, without stir or
\nsound <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nThey seemed to enlarge away, drawn
\nby some wide <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nPale distance, from the warm
\ncontrol of earth <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nAnd her grown far. Now, now they
\nwould escape. <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nThen flaming from her body's nest,
\nalarmed, <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nHer violent spirit soared at
\nSatyavan. <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nOut mid the plunge of
\nheaven-surrounded rocks <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nSo in a terror and a wrath divine <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nPage  213<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nFrom her eyrie streams against the
\nascending death,<\/P><\/p>\n

\nIndignant at its crouching point of steel,<\/p>\n

A fierce
\nshe-eagle threatened in her brood,<\/p>\n

Borne on
\na rush of puissance and a cry,<\/p>\n

\nOutwinging like a mass of golden fire.<\/p>\n

So on a
\nspirit's flaming outrush borne<\/p>\n

She
\ncrossed the borders of dividing sense; <\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nLike pale discarded sheaths dropped
\ndully down<\/P><\/p>\n

Her
\nmortal members fell back from her soul.<\/p>\n

A moment
\nof a secret body's sleep,<\/p>\n

Her
\ntrance knew not of sun or earth or world; <\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nThought, time and death were absent
\nfrom her grasp: <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nShe knew not self, forgotten was
\nSavitri. <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nAll was the violent ocean of a will <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nWhere lived captive to an immense
\ncaress, <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nPossessed in a supreme identity, <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nHer aim, joy, origin, Satyavan
\nalone. <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nHer sovereign prisoned in her
\nbeing's core, <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nHe beat there like a rhythmic
\nheart,- herself <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nBut different still, one loved,
\nenveloped, clasped, <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nA treasure saved from the collapse
\nof space. <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nAround him nameless, infinite she
\nsurged, <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nHer spirit fulfilled in his spirit,
\nrich with all Time, <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nAs if Love's deathless moment had
\nbeen found, <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nA pearl within eternity's white
\nshell. <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nThen out of the engulfing sea of
\ntrance <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nHer mind rose drenched to light
\nstreaming with hues <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nOf vision and, awake once more to
\nTime, <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nReturned to shape the lineaments of
\nthings <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nAnd live in borders of the seen and
\nknown. <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nOnward the three still moved in her
\nsoul-scene. <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nAs if pacing through fragments of a
\ndream, <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nShe seemed to travel on, a visioned
\nshape, <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nImagining other musers like
\nherself, <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nBy them imagined in their lonely
\nsleep. <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nUngrasped, unreal, yet familiar,
\nold, <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nLike clefts of unsubstantial
\nmemory, <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nScenes often traversed, never lived
\nin, fled <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nPast her unheeding to forgotten
\ngoals. <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nIn voiceless regions they were
\ntravellers <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nPage  214<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nAlone in a new world where souls
\nwere not, <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nBut only living moods. A strange,
\nhushed, weird <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nCountry was round them, strange far
\nskies above, <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nA doubting space where dreaming
\nobjects lived <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nWithin themselves their own
\nunchanged idea. – <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nWeird were the grasses, weird the
\ntreeless plains, <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nWeird ran the road which like fear
\nhastening <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nTowards that of which it has most
\nterror, passed <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nPhantasmal between pillared
\nconscious rocks <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nSombre and high, gates brooding,
\nwhose stone thoughts <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nLost their huge sense beyond in
\ngiant night. <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nEnigma of the Inconscient's
\nsculptural sleep, <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nSymbols of the approach to darkness
\nold <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nAnd monuments of her titanic reign, <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nOpening to depths like dumb
\nappalling jaws <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nThat wait a traveller down a
\nhaunted path <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nAttracted to a mystery that slays, <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nThey watched across her road, cruel
\nand still, <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nSentinels they stood of dumb
\nNecessity, <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nMute heads of vigilant and sullen
\ngloom, <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nCarved muzzle of a dim enormous
\nworld. <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nThen to that chill sere heavy line
\narrived <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nWhere his feet touched the shadowy
\nmarches' brink, <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nTurning arrested luminous Satyavan <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nLooked back with his wonderful eyes
\nat Savitri. <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nBut Death pealed forth his vast
\nabysmal cry: <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\n"0 mortal, turn back to thy
\ntransient kind; <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nAspire not to accompany Death to
\nhis home, <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nAs if thy breath could live where
\nTime must die. <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nThink not thy mind-born passion
\nstrength from heaven <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nTo uplift thy spirit from its
\nearthly base <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nAnd, breaking out from the material
\ncage, <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nTo upbuoy thy feet of dream in
\ngroundless Nought <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nAnd bear thee through the pathless
\ninfinite. <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nOnly in human limits man lives
\nsafe. <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nTrust not in the unreal Lords of
\nTime, <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nImmortal deeming this image of
\nthyself <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nWhich they have built on a dream's
\nfloating ground. <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nLet not the dreadful goddess move
\nthy soul <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nTo enlarge thy vehement trespass
\ninto worlds <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

<\/P><\/p>\n

\n

\nPage  215<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nWhere it shall perish like a
\nhelpless thought. <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nKnow the cold term-stones of thy
\nhopes in life. <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nArmed vainly with the Idea's
\nborrowed might <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nDare not to outstep man's bound and
\nmeasured force. <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nIgnorant and stumbling, in brief
\nboundaries pent, <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nHe crowns himself the world's mock
\nsovereign <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nTormenting Nature with the works of
\nMind. <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nO sleeper dreaming of divinity, <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nWake trembling mid the indifferent
\nsilences <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nIn which thy few weak chords of
\nbeing die. <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nImpermanent creatures, sorrowful
\nfoam of Time, <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nYour transient loves bind not the
\neternal gods." <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nThe dread voice ebbed in the
\nconsenting hush <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nWhich seemed to close upon it,
\nwide, intense, <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nA wordless sanction from the jaws
\nof Night. <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nThe Woman answered not. Her high
\nnude soul, <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nStripped of the girdle of
\nmortality, <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nAgainst fixed destiny and the
\ngrooves of law <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nStood up in its sheer will a primal
\nforce. <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nStill like a statue on its
\npedestal, <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nLone in the silence and to vastness
\nbared, <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nAgainst midnight's dumb abysses
\npiled in front <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nA columned shaft of fire and light
\nshe rose. <\/font>\n<\/p>\n

\nPage  216<\/font><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n\t\t\t <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

PART THREE   (Books IX-XII)   BOOK NINE   The Book of Eternal Night   CANTO ONE   TOWARDS THE BLACK VOID     SO…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3311","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-02-savitri-1951","wpcat-73-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3311","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=3311"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3311\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3311"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3311"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3311"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}