Sri Aurobindo
Letters of Sri Aurobindo
CWSA 27
Fragment ID: 7099
Arjava (J. A. Chadwick) [10]
Totalitarian
Night was closing on the traveller
When he came
To the empty eerie courtyard
With no name.
Loud he called; no echo answered;
Nothing stirred:
But a crescent moon swung wanly,
White as curd.
When he flashed his single sword-blade
Through the gloom,
None resisted – till he frantic,
Filled with doom,
Hurled his weapon through the gloaming.
Took no aim;
Saw his likenesses around him
Do the same:
Viewed a thousand swordless figures
Like his own –
Then first knew in that cold starlight
Hell, alone.
Exceedingly original and vivid – the description with its economy and felicity of phrase is very telling.
11 October 1936