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Each compound acquires a life of its own and seeks to communicate to the reader a state of insight that can never be plumbed by the discursive intellect. Normally, a noun-adjective combination tends to loosen the texture of a poem and enable the poet and reader to dwell at greater length on familiar images. However, Sri Chinmoy's use of the double noun technique has the effect of tightening the poem, for although the words and concepts are familiar the usage is not and we must take time to unlock their new compounded meaning.
Returning to the various social ties which have given birth to words for God, it is interesting to notice a subtle difference between the more authoritative termssuch as King, Emperor and Lord-and the terms relating to assistance and leadership. At the outset we discover a closer interdependence and fellowship between man and God in the latter:
From country to country we roam,
Carrying the flame of Love Divine,
Smiling and smiling.
The secret thought of each country
and the yearning of each life
Here become one.
On the road of Infinity,
In the embrace of the covenant
Of the Light Supreme,
O Boatman of our Heart-Boat,
By loving You, we do all this. [19]
Of all the images of questing that have captured the imagination of spiritual seekers through the centuries, the one that most appeals to Sri Chinmoy is the image of the Supreme as a Boatman ferrying the seeker-passengers across the ocean to the golden shore of the Beyond. This ocean symbolises the forces of ignorance which must be overcome in order to reach God. The Boatman is He who knows where the Goal is and how to get there:
