Brilliant, crouching, slouching, what crept through the green heart of the forest,
Gleaming eyes and mighty chest and soft soundless paws of grandeur and murder?
The wind slipped through the leaves as if afraid lest its voice and the noise of its steps perturb the pitiless Splendour,
Hardly daring to breathe. But the great beast crouched and crept, and crept and crouched a last time, noiseless, fatal,
These lines suggest the presence of a magnificent and deadly creature lurking in the heart of the forest. With gleaming eyes, a mighty chest, and silent paws, it moves with both grandeur and the intent to kill. The wind itself seems cautious, afraid to disturb the pitiless splendor of the beast. It creeps and crouches, moving with deadly precision, ready to strike without making a sound.
Till suddenly death leaped on the beautiful wild deer as it drank
Unsuspecting from the great pool in the forest’s coolness and shadow,
And it fell and, torn, died remembering its mate left sole in the deep woodland, –
Destroyed, the mild harmless beauty by the strong cruel beauty in Nature.
These lines describe a tragic event where death unexpectedly pounces on a beautiful wild deer while it innocently drinks from a peaceful pool in the forest. The deer falls, torn apart, with its last thoughts being of its mate left alone in the depths of the woodland. It portrays the destructive power of the strong and cruel beauty that exists in nature, causing harm to the gentle and harmless beauty of the deer.
But a day may yet come when the tiger crouches and leaps no more in the dangerous heart of the forest,
As the mammoth shakes no more the plains of Asia;
Still then shall the beautiful wild deer drink from the coolness of great pools in the leaves’ shadow.
The mighty perish in their might;
The slain survive the slayer.
These lines highlight the idea that there may come a time when the tiger no longer prowls and leaps in the perilous depths of the forest, just as the mammoth no longer shakes the plains of Asia. Despite this, the beautiful wild deer will continue to drink from the refreshing pools in the shade of the leaves. It suggests that even the mighty and powerful eventually meet their demise, while those who have been slain somehow manage to survive the one who caused their demise. It speaks to the cyclical nature of life and the resilience of the natural world.
Sri Aurobindo Rose of God Summary
