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The "symbol sheath" that the poet adopts is the slender veil behind which he conceals his true form. The varied manifestations of this "symbol sheath" find their natural expression in the lyric medium which insists on the presence of some kind of speaking voice. Although the personality of the lyric poet may elude us, this is not in itself an anti-lyrical tendency for we come
to know the psyche of the poet intimately Rabindranath Tagore, for instance, acknowledges:
My particular character must be present in my writings either in a manifest or a hidden form. Whatever I may write, lyrics or anything else, I reveal thereby not merely the mood of my mind; the very truth of my inner being impresses its mark on them.[58]
In the case of the spiritual poet who writes from the rich profusion of his soul, his particular character may seem to overflow, to appropriate the universe around him. At this time, even though he retains the singular speaking voice, it is a voice that reflects other selves through a wide and generous sympathy. It becomes, in effect, a choric voice. The poet speaks as the representative of men and affirms the typical nature of his experiences. In order to do so he must cultivate what Thomas Merton referred to as "a holy transparency, "[59] a purity of utterance by which the reader can pass directly to the state of being contained in the poem. In the four lyrics under discussion Sri Chinmoy is able to achieve this kind of limpid expression not only by detaching the lyric-I from a personal context but by eschewing signs of technical struggle. We find the "I," for example, frequently placed in the simplest of possible sentence structures:
I feel in all my limbs His boundless Grace.
"Immortality"
I veil my face of truth with golden hues.
"Apocalypse"
I face the One alone.
"The Absolute"

