You can read the whole of Savitri online at the official web site. The site also includes Aurobindo's comments on the writing of Savitri. I found this quote especially interesting:
Out of the paths of the morning star they came
Into the little room of mortal life...
Savitri is blank verse without enjambment (except rarely) - each line a thing by itself and arranged in paragraphs of one, two, three, four, five lines (rarely a longer series), in an attempt to catch something of the Upanishadic and Kalidasian movement, so far as that is a possibility in English.For anyone who wants to write epic or narrative poetry, Savitri is not to be missed. Happy 2006! posted by Rachel Dacus Sunday, January 01, 2006 @ 11:27 AM
At 4:26 PM, david raphael israel said...
wonderful, thanks Rachel --had not read these lines in a long time (and only lately I've become aware of the online Savitri, quite a resource).
Reading this short passage, it's interesting how there seem to be clear hints of (as well as clear differences from) the typical Whitman passage --in a sense both practice the painting of a large picture through the line-wise building up of rich detail after detail, thought after thought, facet after facet, perception after perception. But the special extra something in Aurobindo's language -- a gemmy rather than, what?, woody quality? -- seems equally interesting to note.(This not even attending to the "content"!)
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