There is no darkness, we only close our eyes
and shut out the Light;
There is no pain, it is only our shrinking
from an intense and unwelcome Delight;
There is no death, it is only our dread of the Life Eternal
that comes back upon us and smites us.
Our senses are tremulous and fearsome
and cling to the empty littlenesses of the surface moment,
they heed not the vast surges of Infinitude
that sweep and pass by.

Calm, calm, my soul! Sink down and deep:
Fashion the crystal bowl of thy heart
with all the serene profundity of the unknown spaces -
And drop by drop will gather there
a bliss immortals only can taste,
And ray by ray will dawn the Light supernal....
Or - be prepared for this too, soul, my soul -
the down-rush of a myriad undyked cataracts,
the sudden bursting of a whole stellar conflagration

March 17, 1935

Nolini Kanta Gupta

in "To the Heights" 47 poems of Nolini with their translation in French - Published by Sri Aurobindo International Centre of Education SAICE - Pondicherry - India