There are two beings in my single self.
A Godhead watches Nature from behind
At play in front with a brilliant surface elf,
A time-born creature with a human mind.
Tranquil and boundless like a sea or sky,
The godhead knows himself Eternity's son.
Radiant his mind and vast, his heart as free;
His will is a sceptre of dominion.
The smaller self by Nature's passions driven,
Thoughtful and erring learns his human task;
All must be known and to that Greatness given
This mind and life, the mirror and the mask.
As with the figure of a symbol dance
The screened Omniscient plays at Ignorance.
Sri Aurobindo
Reference: # 105 in "Les poèmes de Sri
Aurobindo" (bilingual edition)
also in "Last Poems" - 21
and "Collected Poems" - 141
all published by Sri
Aurobindo Ashram - Pondicherry
diffusion by SABDA
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