Most of the qualified professionals tend to remain taciturn about Sri Aurobindo’s creations

Image, Symbol and Myth in Sri Aurobindo’s Poetry--G. S. Pakle
by RY Deshpande on January 18, 2008 03:36PM (PST) Science, Culture and Integral Yoga

Most of the qualified professionals tend to remain taciturn about Sri Aurobindo’s creations, partly awed by his personality, partly because of their inability to research patiently and perceptively some 3000 pages of his poetic work consisting of two epics, narratives, short poems, long poems, sonnets, experiments in different metres, poetic dramas, translations, and an equally vast body of his criticism in the form of essays and letters.

Sri Aurobindo has yet to be studied. In that respect the present work of Dr Pakle can be considered to be a pretty good attempt, though somewhat general in character. Coming as it does from an academician, it has the merit of well-organised presentation rapidly covering a couple of aspects, essentially the aspects of simulacrum. Simulacrum in the broadest sense can be defined as

“something that has a vague, tentative, or shadowy resemblance to something else.”

It could include a host of features such as image, myth, symbol, simile, metaphor, and these become powerful aids in describing what otherwise escapes all representation. And yet they need not be just algebraic substitutes or notations, even as they do carry a breathing vibrancy which gives to them their true meaning and significance. Dr Pakle’s work is concerned with these features that give to poetry a poetic character… more » Leave Comment Permanent Link