He Put the Belt Around My Life
poem 273
He Put the Belt Around My Life - meaning Summary
Ceremony of Constrained Freedom
The poem describes a sudden, formal binding of the speaker’s life—an act that simultaneously elevates and constrains. The speaker adopts a new, dignified identity yet remains available for small social duties and polite attention. It captures the tension between a deliberate withdrawal into a distinct role and the occasional, reluctant return to ordinary obligations. The tone is composed, measured, and quietly ironic about status and obligation.
Read Complete AnalysesHe put the Belt around my life I heard the Buckle snap And turned away, imperial, My Lifetime folding up Deliberate, as a Duke would do A Kingdom’s Title Deed Henceforth, a Dedicated sort A Member of the Cloud. Yet not too far to come at call And do the little Toils That make the Circuit of the Rest And deal occasional smiles To lives that stoop to notice mine And kindly ask it in Whose invitation, know you not For Whom I must decline?
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