I Met a King This Afternoon!
poem 166
I Met a King This Afternoon! - meaning Summary
Playful Mock-royalty Encounter
Dickinson recounts a whimsical encounter with an unlikely monarch: barefoot, shabby, yet imagined as regal. The speaker furnishes humble details—a palm-leaf hat, a faded jacket, a modest wagon—and elevates ragged companions into princely status. The poem plays with perception and social rank, turning poverty and play into a stately procession and lightly questioning conventional symbols of authority.
Read Complete AnalysesI met a King this afternoon! He had not on a Crown indeed, A little Palmleaf Hat was all, And he was barefoot, I’m afraid! But sure I am he Ermine wore Beneath his faded Jacket’s blue And sure I am, the crest he bore Within that Jacket’s pocket too! For ’twas too stately for an Earl A Marquis would not go so grand! ‘Twas possibly a Czar petite A Pope, or something of that kind! If I must tell you, of a Horse My freckled Monarch held the rein Doubtless an estimable Beast, But not at all disposed to run! And such a wagon! While I live Dare I presume to see Another such a vehicle As then transported me! Two other ragged Princes His royal state partook! Doubtless the first excursion These sovereigns ever took! I question if the Royal Coach Round which the Footmen wait Has the significance, on high, Of this Barefoot Estate!
Feel free to be first to leave comment.