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.
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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.
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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.
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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.