The Winds of Wonder

Emails between RYD and NG about a sentence in Savitri

RYD

Reference is about the she-eagle streaming against the ascending death in the following sentence in Savitri, Book IX Canto 1 Section 3. God of Death has seized the soul of young Satyavan and is taking it away to his far abode deep in the South. Savitri at once streams out of her physical body and follows them, even as they would go out of her sight. She soars like a ferocious raging passionate she-eagle, streaming out from her nest:

Out mid the plunge of heaven-surrounded rocks

So in a terror and a wrath divine

From her eyrie streams against the ascending death,

Indignant at its crouching point of steel,

A fierce she-eagle threatened in her brood,

Borne on a rush of puissance and a cry,

Outwinging like a mass of golden fire. ||136.12||

Grammatically this is a pretty complex sentence and cannot be easily understood though the general sense emerges quite clearly. Savitri is a fierce eagle who from her nest is streaming out, a mass of golden fire, chasing the ascending Death, Satyavan’s spirit in front of him, she moving behind him, continuously like a stream.

The subject is “she-eagle”, the verb “streams” (intransitive), she streaming from her eyrie, the nest of the eagle on a high branch of a tree or on a cliff. 

How do you see it in terms of the various clauses and subclauses, all interwoven in a complex way? This is how the lines scan:

Out mid| the plunge| of heav|+en-sur+round|+ed rocks|

So in| a ter|+ror and| a wrath| di+vine|

From her ey|+rie streams| a+gainst| the as+cend|+ing death,|

In+dig|+nant at| its crouch|+ing point| of steel,|

A fierce| she-ea|+gle threat|ened in| her brood,|

Borne on| a rush| of puis|+sance and| a cry,|

Outwing|ing like| a mass| of gold|+en fire.| 136.12

The third line has three iambs and two anapæsts, the line itself ascending fiercely against the strong stern Death.

Thanks

NG

Structural analysis:

1. The base (independent) clause is:

“A fierce she-eagle streams from her eyrie against the ascending death”

This contains the core subject (“she-eagle”) and predicate (“streams”).

2. Modifying elements attaching to this base:

– Opening adverbial phrase setting the scene:

“Out mid the plunge of heaven-surrounded rocks”

– Manner adverbial introducing the action:

“So in a terror and a wrath divine”

– Participial phrase describing the eagle’s state:

“Indignant at its crouching point of steel”

– Noun phrase in apposition to “she-eagle”:

“threatened in her brood”

– Two parallel participial phrases describing how she moves:

“Borne on a rush of puissance and a cry”

“Outwinging like a mass of golden fire”

The structure flows from setting the dramatic scene, through the core action of the eagle’s defensive charge, to her emotional state and finally her explosive movement. Each element builds on the central image of the maternal eagle’s fierce protective response, with the modifying phrases creating layers of meaning around the basic action of “streaming” against the threat.

“Streams” is a fascinating choice of verb that emphasizes the sustained action and the unstoppable nature of the motion. Also it adds another elemental “water” to the fire later in the sentence, making it a natural motion.

RYD

Thanks

Here are the initial full sentences where we have two lines of the final sentence, as in the first known Arya 1916-18 draft of Savitri:

But then the god grew mighty and remote

In alien spaces and the soul she loved

Lost its consenting nearness to her life.

They seemed to enlarge away, drawn by some great

Pale distance, from the warm control of earth

And her grown far. Now, now they would escape!

Then flaming from her body’s nest alarmed

Her violent spirit soared at Suthyavan,

As in a terror and a wrath divine

A winged she-eagle threatened in her young.

So with a rush of pinions and a cry

She crossed the borders of dividing sense.

Her trance knew not of sun or earth or world,

She knew not of herself or Savithri;

All was one boundless grasp of unnamed force

And absolute possession,—quivering, seized

Its prey, joy, origin, Suthyavan alone.

https://savitri.in/library/savithri

1916-1918 Arya period draft of Savitri

1916-1918 Arya period draft of Savitri

“A winged she-eagle threatened in her young.” finally becomes “A fierce she-eagle threatened in her brood,” in which “winged she-eagle” and “young” are changed respectively to “a fierce she-eagle” and “brood”; this change appears for the first time in the fascicle of the Canto, that continuing in all the subsequent published editions of Savitri. As an aspect of poetic art and structural development this has its own nuances and distinctions. It could mean that Savitri as a poem in the English language was developing and unfolding with still the very ‘original transcendental Savitri in the transcendental speech, parā vāṇi, standing pristinely perfect, needing no revision. That is the transition from transcendental speech to spoken speech, parā vāṇi to vaikhari. It must also be noted that the earlier spellings of Satyavan and Savitri were “Suthyavan” and “Savithri”, making them soft for the English tongue.

The featured painting is by Huta IX:1 # 8

Savitri Book 9 Canto 1 – Towards the Black Void

Into a deep and unfamiliar air

Enormous, windless, without stir or sound

They seemed to enlarge away, drawn by some wide

Pale distance, from the warm control of earth

And her grown far: now, now they would escape. ||136.10||

Then flaming from her body’s nest alarmed,

Her violent spirit soared at Satyavan. ||136.11||

Let us scan these lines:

In+to| a deep| and un|+fa+mil|+iar air|

E+nor|+mous, wind|+less, with|+out stir| or sound|

They seemed| to en+large| a+way,| drawn by| some wide|

Pale dis|+tance, from| the warm| con+trol| of earth|

And her| grown far.| Now, now| they would| es+cape.| 136.10

Then flam|+ing from| her bod|+y’s nest,| a+larmed,|

Her vi|+o+lent spir|+it soared| at Sat|+ya+van.| 136.11