Rm. Shanmugam Chettiar Poems

A shepherd tends his sheep
Till they are useful to him.
People tend me for them.
Helpless, I’ll die alone.
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Living in clusters begot societies,
Which bred cultures which in turn bred ethics.
Defiance is shame, which rules one’s conduct.
The stronger the shame, the richer the culture.
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Oedipus was king of Thebis;
Jacarta was wife of Oedipus.

Oedipus was sincere in his duty.
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If someone hurts you and intends to mend,
Accept him with grace, his pardon unasked,
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It is not important
That I love a woman
But it is important
If she accepts my love.
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I was in love with you
More than you were with me.
It was the privilege
With which I was honoured.
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To regret is a kind of joy.
To repent is a kind of joy.
To render yourself pitiable
And to lament the loss of yours
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What is death? Why is it? Who causes it?
Living things are animated objects.
The dead are so when unanimated.
Cessation of animation is death.
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What is birth? Why is it? Who causes it?
The birth is the fusion of matter and force
That came into being by accident
And since then evolves like planets revolve.
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I stare at the placid Moon,
Who by no way is my own,
And love her womanly face,
By which she isn’t in disgrace.
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