Question

how are the lustful thoughts of the speaker in the poem Still Another View of Grace, personified​

Answer 1

Answer:

This may be considered as a sort of love poem in which the poet articulates his burning desires and tensions in a vivid form. The speaker burns with desire and he addresses his feelings in eloquent words. He puts forth eloquent arguments against lust addressing lust itself di­rectly but he ultimately yields to the temptation of lust when the temptation comes in the shape of a woman and overwhelms him. But it is the mind which is really overwhelmed.

11.2: Caught that through by the screams of her hair’. ‘through’ refers to his passion. He gains control over the passion that tor­ments him.

11.4- 5: do not follow… determined air. The speaker appeals to the ‘passion’ not to follow and tempt the soul within.

11.6- 7: beast in the wind: The suggestion made here is that in the modem world a man marries a woman only for the grati­fication of his animal needs. The speaker asks ‘the passion’ to spare him and chase a priest or a husband. Note the irony in the statement ‘find a priest’.

1.10: shivering hymns: Refers to the mantras and devotional songs which are recited to invoke God.

1. 11-12: 1 shudder… beyond the constable’s beat. His Brahminical back­ ground makes him shudder at all lustful temptations. The temptations of the sinful acts going on in the dark beyond the purview of the policeman on night duty.

11. 12-15: But there she stood… in my father’s past: But when the temptation comes in the shape of a woman he could not resist it and all the restraints and fear of religious and moral laws seem to have broken down.

11. 15-17: Her tumbled hair… the laws of my land: The speaker yielded to the temptation and resorted to an act which broke the age old laws of his spiritual and cultural heritage.

Explanation: