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Sri Aurobindo’s “Style and Substance”

     Sri Aurobindo’s “Style and Substance” examines the relationship between poetic style and substance, arguing that the highest form of poetry goes beyond merely expressing thoughts, emotions, or intellect. It highlights that true poetic vision and the highest style of poetry transcend the ordinary use of language and sentiment.

Poetic Style and Substance

The style of poetry usually matches its content, although not always perfectly. Different types of poetic styles include:

  • Vital Style: Focuses on life's energy and vitality.
  • Emotional Style: Emphasizes feelings and sentiments.
  • Intellectual Style: Highlights thoughts and intellectual ideas.

These styles are common in poetry but differ from the language of higher spiritual imagination. True poetic vision requires more than just forceful expression of thought or emotion.

Examples of Lesser Poetic Vision

  1. Byron's Sentimental Line: "There’s not a joy the world can give like that it takes away" expresses world-sorrow in a simple, sentimental manner. While it conveys an emotional truth, it lacks deeper spiritual insight.
  2. Browning's Optimistic Line: "God’s in his heaven, All’s right with the world" expresses a cheerful optimism. This robust cheerfulness doesn't touch deeper spiritual truths and can be seen as superficial by those with a different temperament.
  3. Pope's Intellectual Line: "God sees with equal eyes as lord of all A hero perish or a sparrow fall" tries to express divine equality. However, it falls short because it is intellectual and rhetorical rather than a deeply poetic vision.

Higher Poetic Vision

True poetic vision goes beyond intellectual, vital, or emotional force. It is imaginative and carries a certain beauty of vision and soul power. Examples include:

  • Lower Intensity: Chaucer’s imaginative work and Spenser’s poetry, which have great beauty but are not the highest form of poetic vision.
  • Higher Intensity: Milton’s early poetry and works by Keats and Shelley, which contain real spiritual vision.

The Highest Poetic Vision: The Mantra

The highest form of poetry, termed the "Mantra," involves a deep revelatory poetic word. This highest poetic vision:

  • Revelation: Goes beyond external beauty (decorative beauty, imagery, thought, or emotion).
  • Spiritual Ananda: Achieves a state where pleasure transitions into pure spiritual joy, or Ananda, which is the ecstasy of true poetic revelation.

Conclusion

To sum up, the highest form of poetry transcends simple emotional, intellectual, or vital expressions. It captures a deeper spiritual vision that evokes pure Ananda, moving beyond external beauty to reveal profound spiritual truths through its language and style.

 

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