The Future Poetry

415 Pages·2003·1.35 MB·English

by  Sri Aurobindo

26
The Future Poetry
VOLUME26
THE COMPLETE WORKS OF SRI AUROBINDO
©SriAurobindoAshramTrust1997
Published by Sri Aurobindo Ashram Publication Department
Printed at Sri Aurobindo Ashram Press, Pondicherry
PRINTEDININDIA
The Future Poetry
with
On Quantitative Metre
ii
Publisher’s Note
The Future Poetry was first published in the monthly
review Arya in thirty-two instalments between Decem-
ber1917andJuly1920.Theseinstalmentswerewritten
immediately before their publication.
SriAurobindotwiceundertooktoreviseTheFuture
Poetry. During the late 1920s or early 1930s he revised
seventeenchapters;in1950hedictatedchangesandad-
ditions to twenty chapters, thirteen of which had been
revisedearlier.Theworkofrevisionwasnevercompleted
andTheFuturePoetrywasnotpublishedintheformof
a book during Sri Aurobindo’s lifetime.
In 1953 the Arya text of The Future Poetry was
brought out as a book, with only two passages of the
later revision added. In 1985 an edition incorporating
all available revision was published.
OnQuantitativeMetrewaspublishedin1942asan
appendixtoCollectedPoemsandPlaysandasaseparate
book. It was written shortly before its publication.
This edition of The Future Poetry with On Quan-
titative Metre has been checked against the author’s
manuscripts and the original printed texts.

CONTENTS
THE FUTURE POETRY
PART ONE
Chapter I
The Mantra 3
Chapter II
The Essenceof Poetry 11
Chapter III
Rhythm and Movement 19
Chapter IV
Style and Substance 25
Chapter V
Poetic Vision and the Mantra 31
Chapter VI
The National Evolution of Poetry 41
Chapter VII
The Character of English Poetry–1 48
Chapter VIII
The Character of English Poetry–2 53
Chapter IX
The Course of English Poetry–1
Chaucer and the Poetry of External Life 63
Chapter X
The Course of English Poetry–1
Elizabethan Drama
Shakespeareand the Poetry of the Life-Spirit 72
CONTENTS
Chapter XI
The Course of English Poetry–3 83
Chapter XII
The Course of English Poetry–4 90
Chapter XIII
The Course of English Poetry–5 100
Chapter XIV
The Movement of Modern Literature–1 107
Chapter XV
The Movement of Modern Literature–2 116
Chapter XVI
The Poets of the Dawn–1 124
Chapter XVII
The Poets of the Dawn–2
Byronand Wordsworth 128
Chapter XVIII
The Poets of the Dawn–3 138
Chapter XIX
The Victorian Poets 148
Chapter XX
RecentEnglish Poetry–1 160
Chapter XXI
RecentEnglish Poetry–2 172
Chapter XXII
RecentEnglish Poetry–3 183
Chapter XXIII
RecentEnglish Poetry–4 192
Chapter XXIV
New Birth or Decadence? 205
CONTENTS
THE FUTURE POETRY
PART TWO
Chapter I
The Ideal Spirit of Poetry 217
Chapter II
The Sun of Poetic Truth 227
Chapter III
The Breath of Greater Life 241
Chapter IV
The Soul of Poetic Delight and Beauty 254
Chapter V
The Power of the Spirit 268
Chapter VI
The Form and the Spirit 276
Chapter VII
The Word and the Spirit 287
Chapter VIII
Conclusion 302
Appendixes to The Future Poetry 311
ON QUANTITATIVE METRE
On Quantitative Metre 317
Poems in Quantitative Metres 367
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