Canto 47The Yogi on the Whirlpool
Book 16. Part Seven - Pondicherry Circa 1927 – 1947
On a dire whirlpool in the hurrying river,
A life-stilled statue naked, bronze, severe,
He kept the posture of a deathless seer
Unshaken by the mad water’s leap and shiver.
5Thought could not think in him, flesh could not quiver;
The feet of Time could not adventure here;
Only some unknown Power nude and austere,
Only a Silence mighty to deliver.
His spirit world-wide and companionless,
10Seated above the torrent of the days
On the deep eddy that our being forms,
Silent sustained the huge creation’s stress,
Unchanged supporting Nature’s rounds and norms,
Immobile background of the cosmic race.