“Thought the Paraclete” is a popular mystic poem written by Sri Aurobindo and first appeared in 1934. The title is metaphoric and the whole poem has the air of mysticism.
Thought the Paraclete is a very interesting piece of literature that offers various and fresh meanings each time one tries to look deeper into it. Sometimes, it seems to be philosophical, while in other instances it sounds like it is trying to be mystic.
Sri Aurobindo
Sri Aurobindo (1872-1950) was an important Indian philosopher, poet, politician and spiritual leader. He played a significant role in the Indian independence movement against British rule and later became known for his spiritual teachings and integral philosophy.
Aurobindo’s Integral Yoga aims to integrate and harmonise all aspects of human —physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual— into a unified consciousness.
Sri Aurobindo’s works are predominantly spiritual and philosophical. Some of his popular works include “The Life Divine”, “Savitri: A Legend and a Symbol”, “The Synthesis of Yoga”, “Rose of God“, and “Thought the Paraclete”.
Thought the Paraclete Summary
Thought the Paraclete is an excellent, mystical poem in which the poet seems to explore the deepest levels of consciousness (Thought) or divine inspiration as it rises to ultimately reach the infinity of divinity.
Journey past Ethereal Chambers
After crossing various spheres (Ethereal Chambers), the speaker’s thought merges into the boundlessness of God and emancipates from the physical world.
The poem evolves in a progression of stages, each of which is inspired by a source of illumination (enlightenment) and elevating the thought to new heights.
At first, the thought rises above ‘long green crests of the seas of life’ and beyond ‘orange skies of the mystic mind’; then it merges with the divine essence represented by the sky’s orange tint.
Exploring beyond Space & Time
The restless spirit of thought is constantly searching for its goals – represented here by the fluttering wings of wind. The limitations of time and space fade way before the thought that tries to soar to new horizons and seeks to explore the uncharted territories of an infinite number of pathways.
The poet uses descriptive language, the allusion to the mythical creature – Hippogriff, with its golden-red feet that walks on the edge of Space and Time.
Transformation into Paraclete
As the thought evolves, it progresses to the Intuition level – where it experiences “sun-realms of supernal seeing” and “Crimson-white mooned oceans of pauseless bliss”.
The hungry thought sets out on the pursuit of uncovering hidden secrets in the white-fire veiled realm of the unknown, propelled by powerful silences that leave it rapture-stunned (being overwhelmed by intense joy or delight).
Ultimately the thought is now transformed into Paraclete, the great-winged wanderer and climbs through eternal skies, singing a slow and fiery song of rune.
The thought’s ultimate journey ends with the dissolution of the individual self, leaving behind limitless, lone, pure and immune state of being, now fully unified with the divine essence.
Thought the Paraclete Poem Summary Line by Line
• Lines 1-5
As some bright archangel in vision flies
Plunged in dream-caught spirit immensities,
Past the long green crests of the seas of life,
Past the orange skies of the mystic mind
Flew my thought self-lost in the vasts of God.
Summary
“Thought the Paraclete” starts with the speaker stating that his thought fly high and high like a bright archangel in a vision and dives deep, dream-like experience.
It flies high over the waves of life’s challenges – “the long green crests of the seas of life” – beyond mysterious realms, ultimately merging in the vastness of the divine.
In this mystic poem, “Thought the Paraclete”, the speaker’s thought undertakes a metaphorical journey and travels across celestial realms (“long green crests of the seas of life” & “orange skies of the mystic mind”).
It portrays the ascent of thought towards the boundless expanses of God using vibrant imagery such as archangels, seas of life, and orange skies of the mystic mind.
The metaphorical “long green crests of the seas of life” and the “orange skies of the mystic mind” are left behind and the speaker’s thought finally merges with the vastness of divine.
By referring to the sky as being orange—one of the representations of divinity—the poet literally blends vision with divinity. Initially, the thought dissolves into the infinity of God, which is the first stage of consciousness.
• Lines 6-11
Sleepless wide great glimmering wings of wind
Bore the gold-red seeking of feet that trod
Space and Time’s mute vanishing ends. The face
Lustred, pale-blue-lined of the hippogriff,
Eremite, sole, daring the bourneless ways,
Over world-bare summits of timeless being Gleamed;
Summary
The relentless, wide and glimmering wings of wind carries the speaker’s thought. The poet depicts the wind as “gold-red seeking”, that indicates the thought’s quest filled with desire and energy.
The speaker’s thought travels to the edges of Space and Time (Space and Time’s mute vanishing ends), that are silent and vanishing. The thought is similar to “the hippogriff” (a mythical creature that symbolises nobility and mystery), whose face is shiny, pale-blue-lined.
The hippogriff (the thought) is a solitary eremite (hermit) that boldly travels through boundless paths and flies over the most desolate and brightly shining summits of eternal existence (timeless being).
In the sixth line, “Sleepless wide great glimmering wings of wind” refers to the spirit’s (thought’s) relentless pursuit of divine wisdom, which represents the second stage – the next phase of consciousness.
Thought (the Paraclete) constantly wanders and endeavours to escape beyond the constraints of Time and Space. An illuminating or enlightening force from above inspires the thought in each and every stage that propels it to the next phase of consciousness. As a result, the limitations of Space and Time fade away from sight.
The term “face” here refers to the thought’s face (countenance), that is compared to that of Eremite, a solitary hermit who fearlessly travels with the purpose of exploring boundless pathways.
The thought is also compared to the Hippogriff, a mythical creature with the head of a horse and the wings of a Griffin, to represent the magnificence of this imaginative thought.
• Lines 12-19
Gleamed; the deep twilights of the world-abyss
Failed below. Sun-realms of supernal seeing,
Crimson-white mooned oceans of pauseless bliss
Drew its vague heart-yearning with voice sweet.
Hungering, large-souled to surprise the unconned
Secrets white-fire-veiled of the last Beyond,
Crossing power-swept silences rapture-stunnedClimbing high far ethers eternal-sunned,
Summary
As the thought travels past various ethereal chambers, it sees the deep twilights below in the world’s abyss fade away. As the thought now enters the realms of divine (Sun-realms of supernal seeing), the shadowy areas below disappear, and the oceans with endless bliss of crimson-white moon attract the thought with sweet, alluring voices.
The hungry thought seeks to explore and uncover unknown mysteries and reveal divine secrets hidden by a veil of white fire. That means, the thought yearns to uncover divine truths.
It journeys through powerful silent places and ascends into high, mysterious ethereal realms eternally lit up by divine sunlight.
The moment thought rises to the next level of consciousness, the world below it sinks out of sight and becomes immeasurable abyss to it. The speaker’s intuition takes the thought forward by serving as a guiding light.
In the 14th line, the colour “crimson-white” refers to this divine consciousness. The speaker’s thought embarks on a daring journey to discover the unexplored and “white-fire veiled secrets” hidden in a extremely silent domain.
• Lines 20 – 22
Thought the great-winged wanderer Paraclete
Disappeared slow-singing a flame-word rune.
Self was left, lone, limitless, nude, immune.
Summary
Ultimately, the thought is transformed into Paraclete, the great-winged wanderer, a holy guide or advocate. This thought slowly disappears or merges with the divine essence, singing a fiery, divine song.
Its ultimate journey ends with the dissolution of the individual self and fully merging with the divine essence, leaving behind boundless, solitary, and pure state of being.
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