POETRY BAEL-302 UNIT 1 SRI AUROBINDO: “WHO” “A DREAM OF SURREAL SCIENCE” 1.1. Introduction 1.2. Objectives 1.3. Sri Aurobindo: A Biographical Account 1.4. The Philosophy of Sri Aurobindo 1.5. Literary Accomplishments of Sri Aurobindo 1.6. Sri Aurobindo the Poet 1.7. “Who” 1.7.1. Analysis of the poem “Who” 1.7.2. Glossary 1.8. “A Dream of Surreal Science” 1.8.1. Analysis of the Poem 1.9. Answers to Self-Assessment Questions 1.10. Summary 1.11. References 1.12. Terminal and Model Questions Uttarakhand Open University 1 POETRY BAEL-302 1.1. INTRODUCTION In Book I you were introduced to Drama. Book II deals with Poetry which is yet another interesting genre of literature. Both Drama and Poetry are distinct forms of creative writing. Whereas Poetry is primarily an expression of emotions and imagination of the poet, Drama is largely a performance art, with intensity of action and plot development as its key makers. Poetry is usually written in a rhythmic pattern whereas Drama involves conversation with serious or comical themes between the characters. In this book you will be acquainted with some of the finest poets of all times. In British poetry, you will read some of the leading British poets of the various literary ages. Besides British poets, you will also get a taste of some major American and Indian poets. The First Block deals with Indo-Anglian poetry. The roots of Indo-Anglian poetry can be traced back to the early nineteenth century. Henry Derozio, Totu Dutt, Sarojini Naidu, Tagore and Sri Aurobindo were some of the pioneers of Indo-Anglian poetry who took this genre to great heights. Later age poets like Dom Moraes, Nissim Ezekiel and Kamla Das too experimented with this form of writing, and enriching it further. In this block you will be introduced to four major Indo Anglian poets namely, Sri Aurobindo, Sarojini Naidu, Nissim Ezekiel and Kamla Das. A study of these poets will give you a taste of Indo Anglian poetry and will enable you to develop an understanding an appreciation of some of the finest Indo-Anglian poetsthat our motherland has ever produced. Let us begin our poetic journey with Sri Aurobindo who was not just a poet but also a Seer, whose poetry too is “an invocation to the transcendental consciousness.” 1.2. OBJECTIVES The aim of this unit is to introduce you to Sri Aurobindo who is “one of the finest flower of Indian Renaissance”. In this unit, you will also be acquainted with the philosophy of Sri Aurobindo, which forms the backdrop of his poetry. Moreover, it is essential for you to get a glimpse of Sri Aurobindo’s philosophy as it primarily focuses on further evolution of man, and those of you who are seeking for something higher and nobler, are sure to find some hidden treasure therein. The unit will also discuss Sri Aurobindo as a poet and will shed light on his literary accomplishments. In this unit, two of Sri Aurobindo’s early poems, “Who” and “Dream of Surreal Science” will be discussed at length. A reading of these poems will provide you an incentive to explore Sri Aurobindo and his world further. 1.3. SRI AUROBINDO: A BIOGRAPHICAL ACCOUNT Sri Aurobindo once wrote, “No one can write my life for it has not been in the surface for men to see.” Indeed, Sri Aurobindo’s life can be likened to an unfathomable ocean, whose depth cannot be examined on the surface. It takes to be a sadhak to truly understand, experience and unravel the mysteries of his Being. Any attempt to describe him on the surface would be inadequate. However, to begin with, in our school days, we are introduced to Sri Aurobindo as Aurobindo Ghosh, the charismatic revolutionary leader, who was arrested in the Alipore Conspiracy Case. In his youth, Aurobindo Ghosh was known for his radical views and volatile temperament so much so that Lord Minto labeled him as “the most dangerous man” that the English had to deal with. Sri Aurobindo was a multi faceted personality. Even till date, he is much admired by people as a patriot, a philosopher, poet par excellence and a Yogi. However, beyond all these identities, he Uttarakhand Open University 2 POETRY BAEL-302 was a sadhak who like a flowing river, traversed the various courses of his terrestrial existence before finally merging into the Ocean of the Divine. Sri Aurobindo was born on 15 August 1872 in an affluent Bengali family at Calcutta. His father, Dr. Krishnadhan Ghosh, was a surgeon who had taken his degree in Medicine from Aberdeen University and desired English education for his children as well. The young Aurobindo received his elementary education at Loreto Convent, Darjeeling, before moving to England along with his two brothers, at the tender age of seven. In London the three Ghosh brothers were kept under the care of Reverand W.H. Drewett and his wife who imparted “secular” education to the brothers privately. It was under the tutelage of the Drewett couple that Aurobindo’s mind became westernized. Besides English, Aurobindo also acquired a sound knowledge of Greek and Latin and had working knowledge of some other European languages like French, Italian and German. Right from his early years the young Aurobindo exhibited exceptional talent as a writer. He read avidly and wrote copiously. His first poems came out at the age of ten in the Fox’s Weekly. Later on, in England Sri Aurobindo went to prestigious educational institutions like St. Paul’s School and King’s College, Cambridge. Sri Aurobindo took literature seriously and was an extraordinary scholar. It is noteworthy that young Aurobindo always fared better in English than his native school mates. G.W. Prothero, one of Sri Aurobindo’s mentors at Cambridge acknowledged his efforts when he said of him, “Besides his classical scholarship he possessed a knowledge of English literature far beyond the average of undergraduates, and wrote a much better English style than most English gentlemen.” Sri Aurobindo won various illustrious prizes for his writings, both at the school and University levels. As Dr. Krishnadhan Ghosh wanted to see his boys as civil officers, Aurobindo was forced to appear for the prestigious ICS exam, which he cleared easily. However, the reluctant Aurobindo disqualified himself in horse riding on purpose for he “felt no call for the ICS.”As England held no charm for Aurobindo, he finally left the shores of England and set sail for his native land on January 12, 1893 to join the service of the Maharaja of Baroda. As Sri Aurobindo reached the shores of his native land, he could “feel a strange peace descending upon him”. Sri Aurobindo spent the next thirteen years of his life in Baroda working in various capacities including that of lecturer in French, Professor of English and Vice Principal and acting Principal of Baroda College. It was during his Baroda days that Sri Aurobindo realized much to his shame that he was ignorance of Indian culture, literature and religion and devoted his time in making up for the loss during his stay in England. This was a period of Sri Aurobindo’s “intense jnana yoga”. As a result of this in-depth study, Sri Aurobindo grounded himself well in Sanskrit and Bengali, his mother tongue. He was enamored of Indian literature in particular, so much so that he undertook the daunting task of translating major portions of Sanskrit classics including the Bala and the Ayodhya kandas from the Ramayana, the Sabha and Udyog Parvas from the Mahabharat, Meghduta and the first canto of Kumarsambhavam of Kalidas. It was a period of gloom in the history of India as she was reeling under the pressure of foreign rule. Sri Aurobindo, who later on was hailed as a champion of Integral Yoga, could not sit silently and watch the nation suffer at the hands of the Britishers. Sri Aurobindo was greatly influenced by the great revolutions of the West and thought of freeing his motherland by bringing about one such revolution in his country as well. Soon the ‘karm yogi’ inside Sri Aurobindo awakened and he plunged into the Freedom Movement. He started by contributing revolutionary articles in various journals like Indu Prakash and Yuganta and also associated himself with some of the revolutionary groups. The partition of Bengal in the year 1905, can be marked as a watershed period in Sri Aurobindo’s life as it brought him to mainstream Freedom Movement. He finally left Baroda for Calcutta to take up the editorship of Bandemataram, an English daily started by Bipin Chandra Pal. Later he took up the principal ship of the newly established Bengal National College, Calcutta. It was during his Calcutta days that he started being hailed as a prominent extremist leader and paid the price for his outspokenness on several occasions. On 4 May 1908, he was arrested in the Muzzafarpur bomb case and was detained at Alipore jail. This period can be well marked as yet another turning point in the life of Sri Aurobindo as it was here that he had his first full fledged mystical experience of ‘Narayan Darshan.’ In the words of Sri Aurobindo, Uttarakhand Open University 3 POETRY BAEL-302 “ I looked at the jail that secluded me from men and it was no longer by its high walls that I was imprisoned; no, it was Vasudeva who surrounded me. I walked under the branches of the tree in front of my cell, but it was not the tree, I knew it was Vasudeva, it was Sri Krishna whom I saw standing there and holding over me His shade.