DESCENT

A secret of far sky burns suddenly close,

A deep blue wakes to glory from pale blue:

Then large and calm and effortless wings of light

Swoop crimson through the paradisal air!

Talons of eyrie truth—a clutch of gold—

Numb every thought to a shining vacancy

Merged in the immortal spaciousness around

This haloed hawk that preys on time-desire...

My body, wrapt in the vast apocalypse,

Grows king of Nature with the mystic bird

A flaming crown of godhead over life!

Sri Aurobindo's Comment

"It is certainly very original and expresses with great force the spiritual experience. A very fine poem—most of it being in substance from the Illumined Mind (except 2 or 3 lines) but its rhythm belongs to the poetic intelligence, strong and clear-cut but not with the subtle or large inner tones of the overhead music. It is a very luminous and powerful image."

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