Rm. Shanmugam Chettiar Poems

Pity generates love; sex generates love.
Fear demands love; favour expects love.
Generating love is a genuine love,
Which can thrive without reciprocation.
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Men guard their women,
Who in turn guard their children.
The children grow into men and women.
Guarding repeats; life prolongs.
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Women caged and men barred,
Woman’s chastity is guarded.
Man must find hers as his children
So that he can bequeath his wealth.
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He is my son’s son whom I love so much
That his mother’s love is less than mine.
To attend his needs is my great concern,
That I don’t do lest she’d be relieved.
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Two sisters parted and went to be wives.
Two brothers stayed and became husbands.
The distance didn’t break the sisters’ closeness.
The closeness didn’t break the brothers’ distance.
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He who writes is not a writer.
He whose writing has been his life
And who has made his life his writing
Is he who only is called a writer.
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So certainly does interest banish
Love and affection, and so easily
Men and women give up honesty
To secure themselves when caught in scandals.
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Dear girl! I respect you as my friend’s daughter
But not as much as it enables you
To secure my son as your husband, mind.
It will cost my repute and ambition.
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A man of commonsense
Will not value a woman
The less for her reluctance,
At his instant advance
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To marry too soon will land a woman
In a bad husband; her fate is sealed.
To marry too late will make a woman
Miss a good husband; her charms faded.
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