Savitri - Book Two - Canto 1

Or our mortal frailty could not long endure, Were set in their sublime proportions there. There lived out in their self-born atmosphere, They resumed their topless pitch and native power; Their fortifying stress upon the soul Bit deep into the ground of consciousness The passion and purity of their extremes, The absoluteness of their single cry And the sovereign sweetness or violent poetry Of their beautiful or terrible delight. All thought can know or widest sight perceive And all that thought and sight can never know, All things occult and rare, remote and strange Were near to heart's contact, felt by spirit-sense. Asking for entry at his nature's gates They crowded the widened spaces of his mind, His self-discovery's flaming witnesses, Offering their marvel and their multitude. These now became new portions of himself, The figures of his spirit's greater life, The moving scenery of his large time-walk Or the embroidered tissue of his sense: These took the place of intimate human things And moved as close companions of his thoughts, Or were his soul's natural environment. Tireless the heart's adventure of delight, Endless the kingdoms of the Spirit's bliss, Unnumbered tones struck from one harmony's strings;

Si elles étaient expérimentées ici-bas -, Existaient là dans leurs sublimes proportions. Pleinement vécues dans leur propre atmosphère, Elles retrouvaient leur intensité naturelle ; Leur action fortifiante s’exerçant sur l’âme Insufflait dans le terrain même de la conscience La passion et la pureté de leurs extrêmes, L’absoluité de leur unique cri, La douceur souveraine, la violente poésie De leur délice magnifique ou terrible. Tout ce que la pensée peut connaître ou la vision Percevoir, et tout ce qu’elles ne sauront jamais, Toutes les choses occultes, rares et lointaines Etaient proches du cœur, et du sens intérieur. Demandant l’accès aux portes de sa nature Elles peuplaient l’espace élargi de son mental, Témoins enflammés de sa découverte de soi, Offrant leur merveille et leur multitude. Elles devenaient de nouvelles parts de lui-même, Les figures de sa vie spirituelle agrandie, La scène mouvante de son parcours dans le temps Ou l’étoffe finement brodée de ses sens : Elles remplaçaient les choses humaines intimes, Devenaient les proches compagnes de ses pensées, Ou formaient l’environnement de son âme. Inlassables, l’aventure et le plaisir du cœur, Infinis, les royaumes de la joie spirituelle, Tons innombrables sur les cordes d’une harmonie ; Chacun à son ample équilibre universel, Son insondable sentiment du Tout en un, Portait les notes d’une perfection invisible,

Each to its wide-winged universal poise, Its fathomless feeling of the All in one, Brought notes of some perfection yet unseen,

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