The Winds of Wonder

A Golden Temple

As in a mystic and dynamic dance

A priestess of immaculate ecstasies

Inspired and ruled from Truth’s revealing vault

Moves in some prophet cavern of the gods,

A heart of silence in the hands of joy

Inhabited with rich creative beats

A body like a parable of dawn

That seemed a niche for veiled divinity

Or golden temple door to things beyond. ||3.33||

This is Savitri of the Transcendent poised for incarnation. In her the God of Love found a perfect abode to dwell in, here on earth.

Beauty shall walk celestial on the earth,

Delight shall sleep in the cloud-net of her hair

And in her body as on his homing tree

Immortal Love shall beat his glorious wings. ||91.6||

A music of griefless things shall weave her charm;

The harps of the Perfect shall attune her voice,

The streams of Heaven shall murmur in her laugh,

Her lips shall be the honeycombs of God,

Her limbs his golden jars of ecstasy,

Her breasts the rapture-flowers of Paradise. ||91.7||

She shall bear Wisdom in her voiceless bosom,

Strength shall be with her like a conqueror’s sword

And from her eyes the Eternal’s bliss shall gaze. ||91.8||

Let us scan the first sentence, “golden temple door to things beyond”:

As in| a mys|+tic and| dy+nam|+ic dance|

A priest|+ess of| im+mac|+u+late e|+sta+sies|

In+spired| and ruled| from Truth’s| re+veal|+ing vault|

Moves in| some proph|+et cav|+ern of| the gods,|

A heart| of si|+lence in| the hands| of joy|

In+hab|+it+ed| with rich| cre+a|+tive beats|

A bod|+y like| a par|+a+ble| of dawn|

That seemed| a niche| for veiled| di+vi|ni+ty|

Or gold|+en tem|+ple door| to things| be+yond.| 3.33

In this set of nine lines only the last one is all with iambs only. In the Revised Edition of Savitri we have not “temple door” but “temple-door”; this would to some extent make the third foot a pyrrhic, taking away the full accent which otherwise is