Sri Aurobindo S Poetic Theory

This Book, It Is Hoped, Will Create In The Readers Not Only An Interest In Sri Aurobindo`S Literary Work, But Also An Awareness About His Message Of Integralism And Its Continued Relevance For All Times.

This Book Will Be An Interesting And Useful Guide To The Students Of Indo-Anglian Poetry. It Identifies Some Recurring Symbols In The Poetry Of Sri Aurobindo, Traces Their Development And Their Final Culmination Into Savitri. It Also Shows How The Poet Sri Aurobindo Had Grown Along With His Symbols And Evolved Himself Finally Into A Yogi. Sri Aurobindo Is In The Long Line Of The Seer-Poets Of India And His Message Has An All-Time Relevance To Society.

This book examines and evaluates Sri Aurobindo s considerable poetic output in blank verse, his achievements in quantitative metre, a medium that had eluded English poets, and his creation of a new type of poetry that reached beyond the ranges of inspiration familiar to most poets to reveal new heights and intensities of mystical and spiritual expression. Before it was first published in 1947 it had the distinction of having been read out to Sri Aurobindo, who professed his admiration for the substance and style of this literary criticism by Sethna. The book is available again after a long time.

Poetry And Poetics Are Integrally Related. The Former Is An Art Based On Emotions, Whereas The Latter Is A Science Evaluating Poetry. So Long Their Common Mode Of Treatment Has Been To Excite In The Mind The Emotions Appropriate To The Subject-Matter. But Science And Art Are Not Identical. The Former Uses The Discursive Mode; And The Latter The Presentational Mode. While Science Is Truth, The Art Is Adjectively True , I.E. It Does Not Conflict With The Truth.The Book Critique Of Poetics Is An Extremely Bold And Far Reaching Attempt At A Comprehensive Theory Of Poetry. It Starts With A Sound-Sense Continuum And Ends With Quantum Poetics. The Path Of Evolution Is Marked By The Poetic Process, The Flow Of Rasa, The Flight Of Pegasus, The Dance Of Resonons, The Doctrine Of Suggestion, Rx For Rhetoric, The Logic Of Signs And Symbols, The Poetic Imagery, The Miracle Of Communication, The Concept Of Criticism, Style And Stylistics, The Law Of Inspiration And Catharsis, The Limits Of Art, The Philosophy Of Beauty, East And West In Poetics, And The Theory Of Literature. And This Has Been Treated In A Global Perspective, Which Harmonizes Both East And West In Poetics. A Balance Has Also Been Struck Between The Two Approaches To The Study Of Literature Extrinsic And Intrinsic. The Former Is Characterized By Psychology-Society And Other Arts Whereas The Latter By Style And Stylistics, Image And Metaphor, Rhetoric And Suggestion, Beauty And The Like. A New Theory Of Literature Has Been Derived From These. This Is Born In A Continuum Of Sound And Sense, Of Space And Time. It Provides An Organ Of Evaluating The Past, Present And Future Works Of Literature. In This Context Quantum Poetics Marks The End Of The Evolutionary Process.

This Is An Original Approach To Poetry, The Poetic Process And To An Interpretation Of The Various Constituents Of Poetry And Of The Configuration Of All These Elements Into The Magic That Is Poetry, Supported By The Tradition Of Indian Aesthetics That Has Always Regarded Great Poets As Seers And Prophets. Stimulated By European Literary Criticism And By Modern Critics Like T. S. Eliot, I. A. Richards And The New Critics, Indian Aesthetics And Modern Indian Thinkers Like Sri Aurobindo, Professor Vinayak Krishna Gokak Has Formulated A Theory Of Poetry Which Is A New And Synthetic Statement Doing Justice To All Aspects Of The Subject. His Experience As Professor Of English Language And Literature In Quite A Few Indian Universities And As Professor Of Literary Interpretation To Teachers And Lecturers From All Over India Has Stood Him In Good Stead In This Formulation. The Book Opens With An Account Of The Poetic Process In Which All The Key-Words Of Aesthetic Theory,-Inspiration, Imitation, Expression, Communication, Persuasion And Configuration -Are Seen To Fit Into Their Places In A Comprehensive Account Of The Poetic Process. This Is Followed By Chapters On: Vision In Poetry, The Four Levels Of Poetic Vision, The Five Kinds Of Poetic Vision The Poet And The Structure Of Personality. The Most Original Part Of This Account Of Poetry Comes Up Next In An Analysis Of Attitudes And Moods In Poetry. This Is Followed By Chapters On: Poetic Meaning, Rhythm, Imagery, Diction, Style Propriety, A Touchstone Of Poetry And The Fulfilment Of Poetry. Students Of Poetry Who Pick Up This Book Will Not Be Easily Inclined To Lay It Down Till They Have Finished Reading It. For Many Of Them, It Will Be A Profound Experience To Be Cherished And Remembered For Long.

This book is an exhaustive study, critically and thoroughly explaining Sri Aurobindo' s use of image, symbol and myth in his voluminous poetry, especially in his early lyrics, sonnets, longer poems, etc. In fact, the special feature of the book lies in its thor0ugh dealing with this bulk that unfortu¬nately hitherto slipped trom the critical eye. Hence the focus is on the usage of rhetorical, visual, auditory, olfactory, gustatory, kinaesthetic and abstract, etc. images. Sri Aurobindo's addition of visionary aspect to them is clearly reminiscent of Romantic poetry, particularly the Shelleyan approach to it. The use of symbols reveals living. truth or his inward vision and seeks expression only through symbolic images. And, the myths, both the Eastern and the Western employed, clearly unveil the veiled reality, revealing the godhead in man. Prof. Manoj Das, Editor, The Heritage (Madras) remarks, The scholar (Dr. G.S. Pakle) has succeeded in putting forth ideas clearly and in a systematic way. He has done so not only with academic knowledge of the principles, laws and traditions of imagery and symbol¬ ism etc., but also with a sense of Shraddha indispensable for explor¬ing the creative domain of a great poet like Sri Aurobindo.

In this book an attempt has been made to compare the two legendary writers by comparing the eastern way of thinking with the western way. Shakespeare is amongst the writers Sri Aurobindo holds in high esteem. Sri Aurobindo’s admiration for the great dramatist resulted in obvious Shakespearean influences on him. He adopts for his plays Elizabethan model of drama perfected by Shakespeare’s genius. Shakespeare’s influence is traceable also in Sri Aurobindo’s sonnets. It is said that Sri Aurobindo had Shakespearean literature on his bed-side when he left his mortal remains. Both the great writers were not satisfied by merely holding mirror to the nature but due to their greater and deeper life power, they recreated the human life in its beauty and completeness. Therefore, there is an obvious need to compare and contrast Shakeapeare and Sri Aurobindo so as to bring out affinities that may be there between their creative ideal and vision as well as their poetic and dramatic art, along with the former’s influence on the later. In this book an attempt has been made to fulfill the need and to contribute, in some measure to the appreciation of Sri Aurobindo’s poetry and plays. It also briefly touches upon Indian response to Shakespeare. It focuses mainly on Sri Aurobindo’s numerous insights and critical observations on him. To sum up writings of the two such outstanding writers, who represent two very different ways of thinking. On one hand Shakespeare potrays lot of blood shed, gory tales and a wild kind of poetic justice in his writings, but on the other hand Sri Aurobindo truely follows Indian ethos of non violence or ‘Ahimsa’. The author underlines the stark similarities and differences in both the writer’s exploring their plays and sonnets. The structure of plays and sonnets may be same of both the greatest minds but ethos and personna ingrained in their writings is quite different.