Amal-Kiran - Poet and Critic

( A letter from Albert Einstein)

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(An Award)

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(A letter from Kathleen Raine)

December 31st, 1993.

Dear Friend,

What a happiness to hear news of you after so long.... I have been reading your poems — what a beautifully produced book, with the Golden Bird (one of Rimbaud's?) on the cover. I at once read your introduction, most of the first section, and then, with great interest, the poems with the comments by Sri Aurobindo, whose insight into the different levels from which poems originate is so true and so valuable. As you know I share AE's view about all those abstract words and superlatives that Sri Aurobindo himself uses, and which he encourages you to use, but the aspiration of your life-work as a poet has been a yoga, as Blake would say a use of one of the three powers of conversing with Paradise' and Blake would surely applaud and delight in that vision you share with him. And there are some lovely poems, I agree with Sri Aurobindo's judgment of This Errant Life and especially of those beautiful lines:

Speak to me heart to heart words intimate

And all Thy formless glory turn to love

And mould Thy love into a human face.

I remember once Sisir Kumar Ghose, whom we must both miss, said to me in a letter about a paper I had written, 'I wish I had written it myself’ and that was the greatest compliment I was ever paid, and I would say the same of those three beautiful lines of your poem.

A life of aspiration to 'the divine vision' cannot but bring its reward, not in the poems only but in other ways — all ways — and setting your heart and mind on 'whatsoever things are lovely' (in St. Paul's words) you must have experienced many times a great joy. I shall not, as you may imagine, read the poems through from beginning to end, but I look forward to dipping in and finding always something that speaks to me from that paradisal vision to which we all — Blake, Sri Aurobindo, yourself and I hope I too, aspire. Those friends who share that 'divine vision' or seek it are very precious, in this dark world....

With very warm regards and remembrances of our busy correspondence.

Very affectionately

Kath Raine

(I am 85—1 believe I am still young by your standard?)

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