SRI AUROBINDO

Collected Poems

SHORT POEMS — 1930-1950

Despair on the Staircase

Mute stands she, lonely on the topmost stair,

An image of magnificent despair;

The grandeur of a sorrowful surmise

Wakes in the largeness of her glorious eyes.

In her beauty's dumb significant pose I find

The tragedy of her mysterious mind.

Yet is she stately, grandiose, full of grace.

A musing mask is her immobile face.

Her tail is up like an unconquered flag,

Its dignity knows not the right to wag.

An animal creature wonderfully human,

A charm and miracle of fur-footed Brahman,

Whether she is spirit, woman or a cat,

Is now the problem I am wondering at.

1939.10

	{DocumentDescription}
		{EndingDate}
			{Year}
				1939
			{/Year}
			{Month}
				10
			{/Month}
			{Exactness}
				Exact
			{/Exactness}
		{/EndingDate}
		{DateType}
			Writting
		{/DateType}
		{WorkKind}
			Poetry
		{/WorkKind}
	{/DocumentDescription}