Opening Remarks
Savitri now comes close the realm of Eternal Night where all seems to end vainly in a meaningless, empty, shadowy, nothingness. It is the verge of despair where all hope must end in gloom.
Edge of Night
Awhile on the chill dreadful edge of Night
All stood as if a world were doomed to die
And waited on the eternal silence’ brink.
For a moment the three stood on the edge of Night full of a chill dread as if the world were doomed to die here. They waited for a moment on the brink of what seemed like an eternal silence.
Brow of menace
Heaven leaned towards them like a cloudy brow
Of menace through the dim and voiceless hush.
The shadow of heaven seemed to fall here like a cloudy brow of menace entering into the dim voiceless hush.
Despairing verge
As thoughts stand mute on a despairing verge
Where the last depths plunge into nothingness
And the last dreams must end, they paused; in their front
Were glooms like shadowy wings, behind them, pale,
The lifeless evening was a dead man’s gaze.
This dark infinite is the shadow of the luminous pole of God. Here too thoughts sank in despair on the last verge of nothingness. Here the last dreams and hopes must end pausing awhile before the shadowy wings of gloom. Behind them the evening was pale and lifeless like a dead man’s gaze.
The night
Hungry beyond, the night desired her soul.
Beyond, in front was the night desiring her soul.
Against the darkness
But still in its lone niche of templed strength
Motionless, her flame-bright spirit, mute, erect,
Burned like a torch-fire from a windowed room
Pointing against the darkness’ sombre breast.
But still she stood her ground as a lone temple of ingathered strength. Her flame-bright spirit, motionless, mute and erect burned like a torch-fire from a windowed room as a beam pointing against the sombre breast of darkness.
The Woman affronts the Abyss
The Woman first affronted the Abyss
Daring to journey through the eternal Night.
Savitri, the embodiment of the eternal feminine, an incarnation of the Divine Mother is the first one to stand before the Abyss daring to journey through the eternal Night.
Armoured with light
Armoured with light she advanced her foot to plunge
Into the dread and hueless vacancy;
Immortal, unappalled, her spirit faced
The danger of the ruthless eyeless waste.
Armoured with light she advanced further into the dread and vacant, blind abyss without hue or colour. Immortal and unappalled her spirit faced the danger of the ruthless eyeless waste.
Night’s inky background
Against night’s inky ground they stirred, moulding
Mysterious motion on her human tread,
A swimming action and a drifting march
Like figures moving before eyelids closed:
All as in dreams went slipping, gliding on.
The pale lifeless sky was left behind as they stirred now against an inky ground moulding their steps mysteriously in a swimming motion and a drifting march. They moved as figures move before closed eyelids slipping and gliding as in a dream.
Rock-gates left behind
The rock-gate’s heavy walls were left behind;
As if through passages of receding time
Present and past into the Timeless lapsed;
Arrested upon dim adventure’s brink,
The future ended drowned in nothingness.
The heavy walls of the rock-gate through which they had entered was left far behind. They moved through passages of receding Time where the past and present lapsed into some timeless state, arrested upon the brink of a dim adventure where the future ended in a blank nothingness.
Closing remarks
Savitri has taken the first step towards the dark abyss. One more step and she cannot return.
About Savitri | B1C2-10 Condition of the World (p.18)