Perspectives of Savitri - Part 2

Imagery and Structure in the First Canto of Savitri

Introduction

The first canto of Sri Aurobindo's Savitri is perhaps the most well-known and oft-quoted portion of this epic poem. Many readers have been touched by its splendid imagery, its subtle rhythms, and its majestic movement as the dawn slowly displays its divine splendour and buries "its seed of grandeur in the hours." Perhaps one aspect of the poem which has not been fully described or appreciated is the internal structure of this first canto and the integral relationship of its structure to the imagery.

The reader of Savitri may well ask: "Why study the form of the poem? Why not just open oneself to the poet's spiritual vision and allow the divine inspiration to infuse one's being?" Savitri is, after all, mantric poetry and, as such, carries the force of divine consciousness within it. But as Sri Aurobindo has explained in The Future Poetry, there are three aspects of mantric poetry—rhythm, verbal form, and the vision of truth conveyed—and each of these elements carries the reader (or hearer) beyond itself to some aspect of spiritual truth. The outer metrical form is a vehicle which echoes the true rhythm—a movement of the spirit, a harmony of the soul. Likewise, in the poem's verbal form the poet employs the images of nature (which to the ordinary consciousness conceal the spiritual realities they figure) as symbols which awaken the reader's inner vision and reveal and illuminate the divine truth hidden in the form. Finally, the poetic vision expressed by the poet leads beyond itself to a truth of the soul. The greatest poetry has the power to awaken that inner vision in us and to reveal some truth of the spirit itself. In the greatest poetry, poetic vision leads to spiritual revelation.

Therefore it is important, and helpful, to understand and appreciate the form and structure of a poem such as Savitri, precisely because the form is the vehicle which carries the divine message. The form is the body of the poem and carries within it the inspired vision, the force of divine consciousness, the living god. It is through the outer form that the poem delivers its spiritual force. It is the sounds, images, and ideas employed by the poet that enable us to enter into the poem's consciousness, as into a holy temple, and carry us beyond the outer

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edifice to a supreme spiritual truth and experience. It is in this vein that the current study is offered.

Now, to what does the term "internal structure" refer? It has been observed that Savitri is written in lines of iambic pentameter with approximately four to six lines per sentence (indicated by a full stop). It has also been observed that within a four- to six-line sentence, a main clause in the first line or a main clause or phrase in the final line summarises the idea presented in that sentence. In addition to the sentence, there are structural divisions within the cantos which the poet indicates with visual devices such as blank lines and paragraph indentation. A close reading of the first canto, however, reveals that between the sentence and these larger sectional divisions, there is another level of logico-thematic structure, which I will refer to as the "thematic unit", and that these thematic units are marked by single-line sentences (or, in some cases, independent clauses). These units are integral to our understanding of the first canto and merit further examination.

Since the average sentence length in Savitri is four to six lines, the occurrence of a single-line sentence or clause, usually with a simple sentence structure in the form

subject—verb—object/complement,

is perceptually salient and serves to focus the reader's attention on the content of the line. This effect is enhanced by the full stop, which forces the reader to pause before continuing to the next line. Thus, three components—the brevity of the line, the simple sentence structure, and the full stop at the end of the line—combine to momentarily fix the reader's attention on the line's content.

The perceptual significance of these single-line sentences corresponds to their structural significance—they occur at transitional points in the poem and are used to

1.introduce a new topic, subtopic, or change of theme,

2.conclude and summarise a topic or theme,

3.make a transition from one topic or theme to another.

Thus, these single-line sentences are used to introduce and conclude thematic units or to make a transition from one thematic unit to the next and are key elements in the poem's architecture and dynamic development. In addition to their poetic and structural value, these

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lines carry a particular dynamic power and mantric force.

If this observation,—that the first canto of Savitri is built upon structural and thematic divisions larger than the sentence is true,— then it should be confirmed by the sense of the poem. In other words, it should be possible to demonstrate that there is a significant change in theme, imagery and language in each unit, hi the following sections of this paper, I attempt to demonstrate that such evidence exists and that a close reading of the canto reveals twelve thematic divisions within it, each approximately twenty-eight lines in length. Each of these units is clearly marked by a single-line sentence (or clause) at its beginning and end, and each unit contains a significant shift in meaning, imagery and language.

The table on the next two pages identifies these twelve thematic units by indicating the first and last line of each unit along with a brief description in italics of its thematic content. Line numbers are placed in square brackets to the left; the letter in brackets to the right of each line indicates whether the line introduces a new unit {I}, concludes a unit {C}, or makes a transition to a new unit {T} (i.e., concludes one thematic unit and begins a new one).

Imagery

There are three contrasting lines of imagery which run throughout the first canto of Savitri—those pertaining to

1.Time vs. Timelessness,

2.World and Nature vs. Spirit and God,

3.Darkness and Sleep vs. Light and Awakening.

Sri Aurobindo clusters together images related to these three themes, with various levels of density at various places in the poem, to produce different effects, such as reinforcing meaning, creating mood, and advancing the narrative. In order to see exactly how he does this, it is helpful to use an imagery diagram in which words and phrases related to these three contrasting themes are located on either side of a dividing line. In this way, we can visually observe the poem's imagery patterns line by line and better understand how the author varies imagery for specific effects. The imagery diagram for the first thematic unit is printed below. (Boldface and italicised words are not the poet's, but are used to highlight our thematic tracing of the first canto. Blank lines have been inserted after each full stop.)

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As the diagram indicates, the three broad lines of imagery which run throughout the first canto are established in the very first line of the poem:

It was the hour before the Gods awake. {I}

1 2 3

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The Twelve Thematic Units in the First Canto of Savitri

as Indicated by Introductory {I}, Concluding {C} , and

Transitional {T} Sentences

Time Timeless World Spirit Darkness Light

Imagery Diagram for the First Thematic Unit

This line opens the poem and introduces the first thematic unit, which concludes with another single-line sentence in line 29:

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The impassive skies were neutral, empty, still. {C}

The thematic content of this unit describes a state of inconscience, a period when the Gods (the cosmic forces) are dormant, and the earth dwells in a state of spiritual darkness and sleep. Imagery pertaining to darkness and sleep occurs repeatedly throughout the unit, as can be easily seen in the imagery diagram: Almost every line in this unit contains images of darkness and sleep, and this is indicated by the density of similar imagery on the left of the Darkness/Light line. The mood created is one of darkness, inactivity, and unconsciousness.

Within this larger thematic unit, there is a minor unit, or subunit, beginning with the first line and concluding {C} with line 9:

A fathomless zero occupied the world, {C}

the concluding main clause of a four-line sentence. The imagery diagram reinforces this analysis and demonstrates how the imagery shifts as the focus of the poem changes. The first nine lines establish the theme of the Gods asleep, in a dormant state. In the diagram, most of the World/Spirit imagery appears on the right side of its line since the description concerns the state of the Gods, and most of the Darkness/Light imagery appears on the left, creating a sense of darkness, inactivity, and dormancy. At the conclusion of line 9, however, the focus changes to the "world" and its state of inconscience, and both the World/Spirit and the Time/Timelessness imagery shift to the left of their lines (while the Darkness/Light imagery remains on the left) as the poet depicts a transient world in a soulless state.

The imagery diagram also demonstrates a strongly effective juxtaposition of words throughout this and the next unit (lines 30-53). The word "awake", which appears in the first line (and is perceptually highlighted by being placed at the end of the line) is juxtaposed against several references to darkness and sleep ("Night", "opaque," "eyeless," "fathomless zero"). This word is repeated in line 10, also at the end of the line, and is juxtaposed against more references to darkness and sleep ("Nothingness," "unconscious," "trance," "stupor," "unthinking dreams"). This pattern is continued into the next thematic unit, in which the word "wake" (line 34) is posed against still more images of darkness, inconscience, and ignorance. The subtle but powerful effect is that of a persistent call from the Supreme—in the midst of this dense darkness, death, and

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inconscience in which we live, the Divine repeatedly calls us to awake—awake to the Light, awake to the Truth, awake to that which is Eternal.

Interestingly, it is after the second occurrence of "awake" in line 10 that the Time/Timelessness imagery shifts to the left of its line ("first," "last," "birth," "mortality") while the World/Spirit imagery shifts to images of nature and earth. It is as though after repeated calls from the Eternal, the earth slowly begins to respond, and the reader's attention is directed to the world and time and "the dark beginning of all things." (Note that in a similar manner, throughout the first two major units, the one word "eternity" is effectively juxtaposed against several references to time, mortality, and change.)

Sri Aurobindo continues to vary the clustering and density of these three lines of imagery throughout the first canto to produce striking effects. For example, we have noted that as the focus of the poem changes at the end of the first thematic unit to a description of the earth and its state of soulless inconscience, most of the imagery appears on the left side of each line (Time, World and Nature, Darkness and Sleep). Then, as the earth gradually begins to awaken to the Divine's call in the second thematic unit [Then something in the inscrutable darkness stirred], images of light and God begin to appear ("light," "Mother," "Vast").

Time Timeless World Spirit darkness Light

Imagery Diagram for the Second Thematic Unit

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Then, in the next unit [Insensibly somewhere a breach began], this faint nameless movement becomes a breach as the Divine intervenes in a reluctant, oblivious universe. Accordingly, several images of God and Spirit ("deity," "spirit," "soul") are positioned against those of World and Nature ("life," "weary world," "universe") while images of Light and Awakening increase ("hue," "sun," "see," "feel," "live"). This clustering of images reinforces the sense of a mindless universe as it slowly begins to feel the divine influence.

This pattern continues into the fourth thematic unit [All can be done if the God-touch is there] as the Immortal's transfiguring touch causes the darkness to dissipate:

The persistent thrill of a transfiguring touch

Persuaded the inert black quietitude

And beauty and wonder disturbed the fields of God.

As we can see in the imagery diagram, images of Spirit and God now predominate, and there is a corresponding increase in images of Light and Awakening, culminating in the "revelation and the flame" in line 100. By the fifth thematic unit [The brief perpetual sign recurred above], in which the Goddess leans over the "earth's pondering forehead curve" revealing her divine splendor and the earth hears the approaching footsteps of the Divine, images of Spirit and God as well as those of Light and Awakening proliferate.

Time Timeless World Spirit darkness Light

Imagery Diagram for the Third Thematic Unit

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Time Timeless World Spirit Darkness Light

Imagery Diagrams for the Fourth and Fifth Thematic Units

In the sixth thematic unit [All grew a consecration and a rite], as the earth bears the awakening ray and responds to the divine touch with consecration and ritual, there is a temporary balance in which

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images of World and Nature ("ambiguous earth," "prostrate soil") occur along with those of God and Spirit ("heaven," "divine afflatus," "Presence and a Power"), while images of Darkness and Sleep ("half-lit ignorance," "shadowy," "death") are juxtaposed with those of Light and Awakening ("revealing," "awakening ray," "God-light"). The atmosphere created is one of spiritual union and sanctity as the Divine Goddess blesses the earth and the earth embraces the spiritual messenger with worship, prayer, and devotion.

Time Travels world spirit Darkness Light

Imagery Diagram for the Sixth Thematic Unit

This pattern continues into the next thematic unit [Only a little the God-light can stay] as the divine luster becomes submerged in the earth consciousness and its illumination starts to recede. Then, in a subunit beginning in line 176, as the God-light begins to withdraw, leaving the "common light of earthly day," the focus changes and all three lines of imagery shift entirely to the left of their lines with images of transient Time ("cycles," "daily," "instant's") earthly Nature ("earthly day," "burden") and Darkness ("common light," "barded," "unforeseeing").

These variations in the pattern and density of images throughout the poem help to explain some of the marvellous poetic effects achieved by the poet. Sri Aurobindo varies the imagery from one thematic unit to the next (and within thematic units) to create mood and atmosphere and to reinforce the meaning. The result is poetry of the highest artistic merit and profound spiritual force. Of course, we feel this effective power when we read the poem, but a study of the

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poet's method serves to further our understanding and appreciation of the vast architecture beneath the poem's surface. The imagery diagram serves as a visual aid, enabling us to identify imagery patterns and variations and to better understand how they are used.

Time Timeless world spirit Darkness Light

Imagery Diagram for the seventh Thematic Unit

Another illustration of Sri Aurobindo's adept use of imagery occurs in the thematic unit beginning with the line (186)

And Savitri too awoke among these tribes. {T}

(This is a main clause introducing a four-line sentence) and ending with the transitional line (215)

In vain now seemed the splendid sacrifice. {T}

(Sri Aurobindo also marks a division before line 186 with a blank line.)

This unit introduces Savitri, who embodies the Divine Grace. One might expect, therefore, to find several images of Godlike grandeur, beauty, and magnificence to describe her. Instead, at least

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initially, we find a cluster of images describing just the opposite qualities: "ephemeral joy," "small happiness," "in the human field," "illusion," and "brief light" This initial description concludes with the line (198)

Time's message of brief light was not for her.

Imagery Diagram for the Eighth Thematic Unit

In other words, Sri Aurobindo begins the description of Savitri not in terms of her true, divine qualities but in terms of that which she is not—suggesting that she cannot be described in human terms—and, in doing so, creates a sharp contrast between her divine nature and that which is human and temporal. (The reader may note that this technique is remindful of the Upanishadic approach to defining the Brahman as neti, neti—"not this, not that") As we might expect, the majority of the imagery appears to the left of the World/Spirit line. It is not until the lines,

In her there was the anguish of the gods

Imprisoned in our transient human mould,

that she is described in her own divine terms with phrases such as

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"deathless," "conscious wideness and bliss," and "undying rapture." But she is a divine being imprisoned in a human form, and this is reflected in the juxtaposition of images on both sides of the World/ Spirit and Darkness/Light lines in the imagery diagram. The technique of delaying any direct description of Savitri for fourteen lines and describing her first in terms of that which she is not produces an effect of spiritual distance and aloofness which emphasises her divine qualities and intensifies the dramatic contrast of the Goddess entering a human form, the Divine descending into the human field.

The remainder of this unit as well as the next two thematic units [In vain now seemed the splendid sacrifice.] [The mortal's lot became the Immortal's share.] describe the interaction of the divine messenger and an unwilling, resistant earth—the Divine's struggle to implant Truth and Joy in human soil, to awaken earth to its higher nature and bliss, "to persuade earth-nature's change". These lines also illuminate Savitri's mission—to help and save the world—as well as her sacrifice—the Divine imprisoned in a human form, confronting death and human fate. Accordingly, when we examine the imagery diagram for these units, we see almost a merging of imagery as images of World and Nature alternate with those of Spirit and God, while images of Darkness and Sleep alternate with those of Light and Awakening.

Time Timeless world spirit darkness light

Imagery Diagram for the Ninth Thematic Unit

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This merging of World and Spirit imagery continues throughout the tenth thematic unit, which further describes Savitri's ordeal: Inwardly divine, her spirit one with the Spirit in all, she has descended into human form and accepted human destiny in order to win a victory for mankind—the victory of eternal life over death and suffering, the victory of light and joy over darkness and pain. In herself she carries the world's burden; her struggle is the cosmic struggle of Truth and Spirit against Falsehood and Inconscience.

Time Timeless world spirit darkness light

Imagery Diagram for the Tenth Thematic Unit

The merging of World and Spirit imagery reaches a fitting climax in the final line (281) of the unit:

The universal Mother's love was hers, {T}

fitting because it is in the universal Mother that Nature and Spirit are merged in one being.

This transitional line also, introduces the eleventh thematic unit

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which continues briefly to describe Savitri's ordeal. Then, in a subunit beginning in line 287,

At first life grieved not in her burdened breast {1}

Savitri's own awakening is described in language and imagery recalling the earth's gradual awakening in the beginning of the poem. At first she lies "on the lap of earth's original somnolence... unconscious on mind's verge," inert, "in a deep cleft of silence." Then there is a slow movement, a faint remembrance as she lays her hand upon her bosom, recalling the "childlike finger laid on a cheek" in line 50. The withdrawn "Power that kindles mind'' (300) recalls "A power of fallen boundless self (10). Then, as in the earth's awakening, "she stirred" (306) and memory and thought came swiftly back to her (314-316). This parallel between Savitri's awakening and the awakening of the universe highlights the significance of her quest, referred to earlier: Savitri represents Supemature bom into humanity, and what she achieves is achieved for all. She awakes, as does the cosmos, and her own victory liberates the whole universe.

Throughout this subunit, as Savitri is held by "earth-nature" and lies in a state of sleep and forgetfulness, images of Time, World, and Darkness prevail. In the imagery diagram, all three lines of imagery are to the left of their lines.

Time Timeless World Spirit Darkness Light

Imagery Diagram for the Eleventh Thematic Unit

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Finally, in the last unit [But now she stirred, her life shared the cosmic load], as this slow movement becomes stronger and Savitri awakes to her own truth and divine mission, images of Timelessness, Spirit, and Light begin to appear, and this is visually evident in the imagery diagram.

Time Timeless World Spirit Darkness Light

Imagery Diagram for the Twelfth Thematic Unit

This final thematic unit ends on a highly dramatic note. First there is the single-line transitional sentence (341):

Immobile in herself, she gathered force. {T}

It leads to the concluding line

This was the day when Satyavan must die. {C}

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This single-line sentence concludes the first canto and introduces Satyavan, son of the banished king, Dyumatsena, and husband of Savitri.

This concluding line brings sharply into focus the three primary lines of imagery established in the first line of the poem. Compare this single-line conclusion with the poem's opening line:

It was the hour before the Gods awake.

Structurally, the lines are very similar, and the three lines of imagery are concluded in exactly the same order in which they are introduced:

hour — day

Gods — Satyavan

awake — die

Hour and day both refer to temporal aspect; Gods and Satyavan both refer to God and Spirit (Satyavan represents the divine soul embodied in human form); while a dramatic contrast is created between the opposing words "awake" and "die".

Thus, there are three main lines of contrasting imagery which run thoughout the first canto of Savitri and, as a shift of theme occurs from one thematic unit to another, the poet effectively varies the clustering and density of these images to reinforce the sense of the poem. As the earth slowly responds to the divine touch and awakes from a state of inconscience and soullessness, then turns away from the spiritual light to pursue its daily routines while the Divine Grace takes up the human burden, Sri Aurobindo varies the patterns of imagery to produce a poem of profound psychological impact and monumental artistic merit.

Semantics

In addition to the three lines of contrasting imagery which run thoughout the first canto of Savitri, each thematic unit is characterised by one or two secondary lines of imagery which are brought into the foreground and receive prominence within the unit. Generally, these lines of imagery are introduced in the single-line introductory {I} or transitional {T} sentences which begin each unit. Within the unit, these secondary lines of imagery receive prominence by the poet's use of several words from the same semantic fields. The overall effect

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is that the three primary lines of imagery serve as background and support throughout the canto, while these related secondary semantic themes rise to the surface to develop the content of each unit and to carry the narrative. (In the imagery diagrams, these semantically-related words are printed in boldface type and, where there are two secondary lines, in italics.)

As an example, the first subunit (lines 1-9) within the first thematic unit describes a condition of darkness and inconscience "before the Gods awake." The world lies in a state of dormancy and inactivity. These lines contain an abundance of imagery related to "Night", such as "unlit temple", "opaque", "impenetrable", "eyeless muse", "abysm of the unbodied Infinite"—words and expressions from the same semantic field, which may be described as "darkness" or "nightness".

The second subunit (lines 10-29) contains two secondary lines of imagery: the first defined by "a fallen power", introduced in line 10 and reinforced by expressions such as "tardy process", "dark beginning", "unconscious act", "unseeing will", "ignorant Force", and "somnambulist whirl", and another defined by a "fathomless zero" occupying the world, introduced in the concluding line (9) of the previous subunit and reinforced by words such as "Nothingness", "tenebrous womb", 'Vacant Nought", "soulless Void", "hollow gulfs", and "neutral, empty, still". The cumulative effect of this language is to create an atmosphere of helplessness, abandonment, and soullessness—i.e., life without God and Spirit.

[30-53] Then something in the inscrutable darkness stirred. {1}

This line, a main clause initiating a five-line sentence, introduces the second thematic unit, which describes the earth's first signs of awakening. Somewhere in this dark inconscient state, a faint movement of consciousness begins. Language semantically related to the notion of a vague "stirring" movement occurs throughout this unit: "nameless movement", "unthought idea", "teased", "throe", "quivering trace", "lurked", and "clutched". Another secondary line of imagery in this unit is related to the sense of longing, or yearning: "dissatisfied", "something that wished", "old tired want unfilled", "desire", "yearned", and "infant longing". Notice that the concluding line (53) contains references to both of these semantic notions ("An infant longing clutched the sombre Vast.)"

[54-78] Insensibly somewhere a breach began. {1}

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In the third thematic unit, this movement continues as the divine tight breaks through the darkness and penetrates the dim earth consciousness. There are several expressions related to the word "breach": "troubled", "pierced through the dumb deeps", "Intervening in a mindless universe", "crept through the reluctant hush", "conquering", "compelled", and "quivered". This language creates the sense of a reluctant world resisting the Divine Grace, while the Divine eternally attempts to awaken the earth to its own greater reality.

[78-101] All can be done if the God-touch is there. {T}

This transitional line introduces the idea of the transfiguring touch of God, and the thematic unit it initiates describes the radiant light as it breaks through the world's reluctant darkness and bursts forth in a glorious revelation. The unit contains several expressions related to "God-touch", such as "a hope stole in", "grace", "errant marvel", "miraculous gesture", "transfiguring touch", and "hand of pale enchanted light".

[101-135] The brief perpetual sign recurred above: {T}

In the fifth thematic unit, this transitional line identifies the outbreak of the dawn as a "sign", a vision of the truth, beauty, and bliss of the transcendent Spirit, a message from the Immortal, and this unit includes numerous related expressions: "message", "aura of magnificent hues", "Vision", "hieroglyphs of mystic sense", "a significant myth", "a brilliant code", "epiphany", and "signal flares". The high density of words from the same semantic field heightens the reader's sense of an impending revelation.

In a subunit of this major unit, beginning in line 120,

Once more a tread perturbed the vacant Vasts, {T}

the notion of the "tread" of divine footsteps is developed with expressions such as "A form . . . seemed to near", "the Goddess leaned", "spaces ready for her feet", "passage", and "Nature heard her steps", heightening still further the sense of the approaching divinity.

[135-156] All grew a consecration and a rite. {T}

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In the sixth thematic unit, the world awakes to the splendid light and embraces it with consecration and ritual. Semantically-related words such as "hymn", "priestly", "altar", "prayed", "prostrate soil", "vision and prophetic gleam", "miracles", "divine afflatus", "sacred yearning", and "worship of a Presence and a Power" create an atmosphere of worship and devotion as the earth responds to the divine awakening ray.

Another line of secondary imagery is introduced in the second line of the unit

Air was a vibrant link between earth and heaven

with the theme of a "link between earth and heaven", as Nature embraces the sacred symbol. The idea of this link is strengthened by the poet's use of a series of unusual word collocations in which a word related to earth and nature is combined with a word related to religious worship and ritual: "wide-winged hymn", "priestly wind", "altar hills", boughs prayed", and "revealing sky".

[156-185] Only a Utile the God-light can stay: {T}

This line introduces the seventh thematic unit with the image of "God-light", and reminds us that the earth cannot look very long upon that glorious light Too soon the divine splendor is absorbed by the earth nature and dissolves in its material consciousness. Analogous imagery dominates the first part of this unit with words such as "illuiruning", "spark of deity", "lustre", "glow of magic fire", "bright", "supernal beam", and "body of glory".

A minor transition in line 176

There was the common light of earthly day {T}

establishes a contrast between the God-light and "the common light" of ordinary life. This subunit contains semantically-related expressions such as "blinded quest", "unforeseeing", "uncertain mind", and "covered face". Another secondary line of imagery establishes the sense of speed of movement: "rumour of the speed of life", "pursued the cycles", "sprang" and "instant's urge". The feeling created is one of hurried and unconscious activity as the earth turns away from the divine symbol and pursues its ordinary routines. This feeling contrasts strongly with the slow and dignified movement of

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the previous thematic unit in which the earth responds to the divine Presence in worship and consecration.

[186-214] And Savitri too awoke among these tribes. {T}

At the beginning of the eighth thematic unit, Savitri is introduced with this line, which reminds the reader of the first line of the poem. As mentioned in the previous section, Sri Aurobindo delays a direct description of Savitri and describes her instead in terms of what she is not. The resulting effect is one of spiritual distance and aloofness, which is contrasted with human littleness and its ephemeral joy. Only two expressions are used to refer to Savitri in the first thirteen lines of this unit—"mighty stranger" and "embodied Guest"—both of which reinforce the feeling of distance and aloofness. In contrast, a secondary line of imagery creates the sense of the eager pursuit of transitory pleasure which characterises the little human life into which she has descended: "hastened", "lured", "leap of human mind", "eager motion of pursuit", and "fluttering-hued illusion of desire". This contrast is made explicit by the use of various negative expressions to describe Savitri's reaction to these things: "No part she took", "made no response", "was not for her".

Savitri is described in her own divine terms beginning in line 199:

In her there was the anguish of the gods.

The phrase "In her" focuses our attention on the contrast between her divine qualities and those of mankind with which the unit begins. The remainder of the unit describes her in spiritual terms such as "deathless", "vaster Nature", "conscious wideness and the bliss", "calm delight", "undying rapture", and "daughter of infinity".

[215-246] In vain now seemed the splendid sacrifice. {T}

The next thematic unit describes Savitri's birth as a "splendid sacrifice", She has given herself entirely to save the world, to implant her divine being in human soil, to overcome pain, suffering, and death for mankind. This theme is developed with several relevant expressions: "her rich divinity...she had lent to men", "eternal's touch", "heaven's messengers", "thorns", "saviour hands of Grace", "sons of God", "cross" and "crown". (The latter images allude to the crucifixion of Christ.)

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Another secondary line of imagery in this unit depicts the Divine's attempt to change the earth and the earth's resistance to the divine grace as a struggle, a battle between the power of divine Truth and an ignorant and defiant earth nature. Several expressions are used to create this sense of conflict and defiance: "assault", "repels the light", "trembles", "inflicting", "sullies with its mire", "defence", "rums against", "meets the sons of God with death and pain", "struggle", "fall".

[246-281] The mortal's lot became the Immortal's share. {T}

The tenth thematic unit describes Savitri's ordeal—to accept human fate in order to triumph over death and suffering for all mankind. It contains two sets of contrasting imagery—the "mortal's lot" and the "Immortal's share" as the Immortal assumes human form and confronts human destiny. The former includes expressions such as "earthly destinies", "ordeal's hour", "terrestrial robe", "human fate", "load", "foe", and "the doom she faced". This set of images stands in contrast to "inborn felicity", "godhead", "Spirit in all", "all Nature", "the great cosmic dread", and "cosmic mights". The two sets of imagery merge in the unit's final line in the "universal Mother's love".

[281-305] The universal Mother's love was hers. {T}

This transitional line, which opens the next thematic unit, identifies Savitri with the "universal Mother". She carries the world and all living beings in herself; all Nature is her own. She has accepted life's terrestrial robe in order to do the Immortal's work. The image of the universal Mother is enhanced with expressions such as "worldwide heart", "burdened breast", "lap", and "bosom". As mentioned previously, a subunit beginning in line 287 describes Savitri's own self-awakening in language which parallels the description of the earth's awakening with which the canto begins.

[306-341] But now she stirred, her life shared the cosmic load. {I}

The twelfth and final thematic unit contains two lines of secondary imagery: one related to the notion of the "cosmic load", which Savitri now shared, the other to her own self-awakening, continued from the previous unit. Expressions semantically related to "cosmic load" include "yoke of ignorance and fate", "labour and stress", "tired feet",

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"Doom", "struggle", "pang", "dire debate", "agony of the globe" "dangerous world", and "confronting Time and Fate". Expressions related to awakening include "stirred", "summons", "call", "spirit travelled back", "lighting a pathway", "illumined swiftly", and "thought approached her doors". The two lines of imagery merge as Savitri awakes to her own divine truth and mission—to struggle against the Inconscient, to confront Time and Fate, to overcome Death and win Immortality for mankind.

This thematic unit and the first canto conclude with the line:

This was the day when Satyavan must die. {C}

As we have already noted, this line introduces Satyavan and ends the first canto on a highly dramatic note. Satyavan is Savitri's beloved husband and represents the divine soul embodied in human form. It is for him that she will confront Death itself, and her victory represents a victory for all mankind.

Before concluding our discussion, it should be pointed out that another function of these secondary lines of imagery is to advance the narrative. For example, the first thematic unit [It was the hour before the Gods awake] is dominated by images of darkness, sleep, and inactivity as the earth spins in a state of soulless inconscience. Then, in the second unit [Then something in the inscrutable darkness stirred], something stirs, there is a faint longing and clutching as the earth faintly senses the divine Presence. In the next unit [Insensibly somewhere a breach began] this stirring movement becomes stronger—it becomes a breach, an intervention of the spirit, which is described in the following unit [All can be done if the God-touch is there] as the transfiguring touch of God, which causes the darkness to dissipate. The fifth thematic unit [The brief perpetual sign recurred above] interprets this act as a sign of the approach of the Divine to which the earth responds in the subsequent unit [All grew a consecration and a rite] with prayer and consecration. In the seventh thematic unit [Only a little the God-light can stay] the brief God-light illumines the human sight for a while, then withdraws, leaving the "common light of earthly day."

In the eighth thematic unit [And Savitri too awoke among these tribes] Savitri is introduced as the "embodied Guest," the Divine Grace who assumes human form. In the next unit [In vain now seemed the splendid sacrifice] the nature of her sacrifice is described—to confront death for the world. This is followed by a unit [The mortal's lot became

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the Immortal's share] in which her ordeal is described along with the contrast between her inner immortal self and her outward human form. The eleventh unit [The universal Mother's love was hers] identifies Savitri with the universal Mother, and the final unit [But now she stirred, her life shared the cosmic load] describes her mission, the struggle for which she took on human form—to confront Time and Fate and Death. The final line of the canto introduces Satyavan and concludes this portion of the narrative on a dramatic note of heightened tension.

Conclusion

We have seen that the first canto of Savitri is a magnificent expression of poetry, artfully constructed and powerful in its poetic and spiritual force. A close reading of the canto reveals that there are three main lines of contrasting imagery which run throughout the canto: Time vs. Timelessness, World and Nature vs. Spirit and God, and Darkness and Sleep vs. Light and Awakening. Images related to these themes occur with varying levels of density at various places in the poem for different effects: to reinforce the meaning, to create mood and atmosphere, and to advance the narrative.

A close reading also reveals that this first canto is constructed around a series of thematic units which are marked by single-line introductory, concluding, and transitional sentences. These thematic units introduce new secondary lines of imagery, which receive prominence by the occurrence of several words and expressions from the same semantic field. The overall effect is that the three primary lines of imagery serve as background and support throughout the canto, providing a foundation on which is developed its main themes, while these secondary lines of imagery rise to the surface to develop those underlying themes and to carry the narrative.

One final comment concerns the three lines of imagery which provide an underlying foundation for this canto. Savitri is not only a poem of supreme artistry; it is a poem of spiritual force, mantric poetry in the great tradition of the Vedas and Upanishads. Read in the right spirit, Savitri can lead the aspirant to spiritual truth and awakening. The three lines of imagery which run throughout this canto reverberate in our minds and hearts like a repeated Mantra, carrying us imperceptibly from the falsehood of World and Nature to the truth of God and Spirit, from Darkness and Sleep to Light and Awakening, from Time and Mortality to Timelessness

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and Immortality, recalling the prayer of the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad:

Om

from falsehood to truth,

from darkness to light,

from death to immortality.

WILLIAM C. FLICK

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