Advent of the poetry of the future, poetry expressing the powers and possibilities of the spirit

Devotion: An Anthology of Spiritual Poems The Aspiring Soul of Poetry and the New Birth--A Review by RY Deshpande on Wed 06 Aug 2008 05:03 PM PDT Permanent Link

It is in this context that we should feel happy in seeing this poetry being anthologized in a single collected volume, that a great need has been fulfilled through it. Llyod Hofman and Vignan Agni from Auroville have done it in Devotion: An Anthology of Spiritual Poems. In their introduction, the editors write:

“Some two hundred years ago the literary world was unnerved by a new kind of book: the anthology. Various authors were presented through poems that had been cut from sequences of narrative, or lifted from series with a common theme. But more embarrassing was that the poems presented without the usual introductory essay by the poet, giving views on life, reality and the imagination. These essays were much debated in libraries and reading rooms, as popular then as are video libraries today. Compiling Devotion reminded us of this…”

Our editors feel that, not to introduce the Aurobindonian school to ardent poetry lovers and readers would place the anthological works in an inexcusable poetic vacuum. This is justification enough, but also perhaps not a sufficient justification. The question to be asked is:

• does the Aurobindonian poetry at all make a mark in the present world literature?
• will it ever make it?
• does it have ample or satisfactory reason to exist in its own right, if not now, later?
• More fundamentally, is it going to fulfill the expectation of the Yogi-Critic who foresaw, foundationally, the advent of the poetry of the future, poetry expressing the powers and possibilities of the spirit?
• Does it provide us “contextual poetry” arriving, in a sustained way, from the regions of intuition and if likely going even beyond them?

But let us follow the Devotion. We have in this anthology entries of 111 poet-authors, the main text of the book spanning over a little more than 300 pages, plus notes and an index, with a total tally of 271 poems, a work that has been brought out exquisitely, in hard cover, designed by Auroville Prose Editors (Avipro) and published by Integral Enterprise of Auroville... Science, Culture and Integral Yoga View SCIY Slide Shows The Pondicherry Mystic Poets

Reply by Joan Price on Fri 08 Aug 2008 01:15 PM PDT Profile Permanent Link
Although I have not read the anthology, this review has encouraged me to do so. Joan Price

Reply Re: Aspects of Amal Kiran: Part I—by Anurag Banerjee
by Joan Price on Fri 08 Aug 2008 01:07 PM PDT Profile Permanent Link
Amal Kiran's poetry lifted me on wings of wind, but not being a poet, I soon landed softly on familiar ground. The article was excellent.