I burned and burned. But one day I turned
and caught that thought
by the screams of her hair and said: “Beware,
Do not follow a gentleman’s morals
with that absurd determined air.
Find a priest. Find any beast in the wind
for a husband. He will give a houseful
of legitimate sons. It is too late for sin,
even for treason. And I have no reason to know your kind.
Bred Brahmin4
among singers of shivering hymns
I shudder to the bone at hungers that roam the street
beyond the constable’s beat.” But there She stood
upon that dusty road on a night lit April mind
and gave me a look. Commandments crumbled
as in my father’s past. Her tumbled hair suddenly known
as silk in my hand.I shook a little
and took her behind the laws of my land.

“Still Another View of Grace” by A.K. Ramanujan is a poem that explores the conflict between desire and morality. The speaker, consumed by burning desires, initially resists temptation, addressing his inner struggles with eloquence. However, when faced with the irresistible temptation embodied by a woman, he ultimately succumbs to lust, symbolized by her tumbled hair.

The poem juxtaposes the speaker’s Brahminical background and upbringing with his inability to resist the allure of forbidden desires. Despite his initial resolve, he abandons moral and religious constraints, yielding to the passion that overwhelms him. The poem reflects on the complexities of human nature, the power of desire, and the fragility of moral convictions in the face of temptation.