On Himself

Cousin's Criticism of "The Rishi"

Collected Poems (Centenary Edition, 1972), p. 297.

Q: I hear that James Cousins said about your poem "The Rishi" that it was only spiritual philosophy, not poetry.

A: I never heard that. If I had I would have noted that Cousins had no capacity for appreciating intellectual poetry. But that I knew already, just as he had no liking for epic poetry either, only for poetic "jewellery". His criticism was of In the Moonlight which he condemned as brain-stuff only except the early stanzas for which he had high praise. That criticism was of great use to me, though I did not agree with it. But the positive part of it helped me to develop towards a supra-intellectual style. As Love and Death was poetry of the vital, so Ahana¹ is mostly work of the poetic intelligence. Cousins' criticism helped me to go a stage farther.

11-11-1936

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Q: X says Cousins ignored your poem "The Rishi" while

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speaking of the others. Isn't that far worse?

A: Neither worse nor better. What does Cousins' bad opinion about The Rishi matter to me? I know the limitations of my poetry and also its qualities. I know also the qualities of Cousins as a critic and also his limitations. If Milton had written during the life of Cousins instead of having an established reputation for centuries, Cousins would have said of Paradise Lost and still more of Paradise Regained, "This is not poetry, this is theology". Note that I don't mean to say that The Rishi is anywhere near Paradise Lost, but it is poetry as well as spiritual philosophy.

13-11-1936