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An Introduction to Indian Writing in English

Sri Aurobindo

Question- Discuss Sri Aurobindo's contribution to Indo-Anglian poetry.

Ans-

The term "Indo-Anglian" is used to denote original literary creation in the English language by IndiAns- The bulk of poetry written by Indian writers in English falls into three phases: the imitative, the assimilative and the experimental. The writers of 1850-1900 were trying out the new found possibilities of feeling and form and expression, leaning heavily on the Romantics and the VictoriAns- The writers of 1900-47 were compulsive nationalists seeking to project the renascent consciousness of India, caught in the male storm of historical conflict and turmoil and change, and culminating in the attainment of political freedom in 1947. The third phase, the experimental, may be said to begin after independence.

Aurobindo's poetic output is enormous. He composed poetry from 1890 to 1950. His poetical works consist of lyrics, narrative poems, philosophical poems, poetic plays and Savitri, the greatest epic in Indo-Anglian poetry. Aurobindo's early lyrics like "Songs to Myrtilla" and "Night by the Sea" are reminiscent of Keats sensuous poetry. His early poetry evinces his classical learning and is full of classical references. But Aurobindo realised that he should drive inspiration 'not from "Sicilian olive groves" or "Parnassus" but from the Indian soil and myth. He wrote:

Me from the lotus heaven Saraswati
He called to regions to eternal snow
And ganges pacing to the Southern Sea,
Ganges upon whose shore the flowers of Eden blow,

Aurobindo's best poetry bears the stamp of Indian spiritualism and mysticism. Urvasie', 'Love and Death', 'Baji Prabhu', 'Vidula', 'Ocean Oneness' Thought the Paracelete', 'Rose of God' etc. are some of his finest philosophical lyrics.
Aurobindo made remarkable contribution to Indo-Anglian poetry by virtue of his narrative power, polished and refined diction and innovations in metrical forms. He was highly influenced by Milton's poetic technique. Like Milton, he used epic similes, high sounding proper names and inversions and involved constructions. Aurobindo's blank verse in Miltonic. Aurobindo did not restrict himself to miltonic blank verse alone. He used the Locksley Hall metre for his narrative poem. "Vidula" and quantitative metres for his philosophical and mystical poems. He essayed "to naturalize some of the classical metres in English. He also desired to achieve", says C. Paul Vergheese, "Something anologous to the Vedic Mantra; for according to him the Vedic Mantra is the natural medium of mystic poetry." Aurobindo alone among Indian poets has attained proficiency in the use of blank verse and has such memorable lies as" and all the lonely uselessness of pain", "With overwhelming sweetness miserable", "tears and dumb bitterness and pain unpitied."
Savitri : A Legend and a symbol (1950-51) is an epic which was completed in fifty years. It is reminiscent of Milton's Paradise lost in respect of blank verse, similes and seriousness. The combination of poetry and philosophy that we find in Savitri is untraceable anywhere in Indo-Anglian poetry. Through symbols and images Aurobindo expresses this own mystical and philosophical experiences and realisations. Aurobindo himself once commented, "Savitri is an experiment in mystic poetry, spiritual poetry cast into a symbolic figure." K. R.S. Iyengar remarks: "What is so striking about this epic is its sheer sweep, its amazing modernity, its pervasive mystical quality and its singular poetic power.

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