Black Slippers: Bellotti
Black Slippers: Bellotti - meaning Summary
Social Discomfort and Observation
A brief scene in a restaurant where the speaker watches a woman, Celestine, remove her suede slippers and protect her stockings with a napkin while speaking a French question. An Italian woman answers with reserved pride. The speaker observes the small ritual of social etiquette and tension as Celestine, after a pause, slips her shoes back on with an audible groan. The poem highlights discomfort, formality, and quiet human theater.
Read Complete AnalysesAt the table beyond us With her little suede slippers off, With her white-stocking'd feet Carefully kept from the floor by a napkin, She converses: 'Connaissez-vous Ostende?' The gurgling Italian lady on the other side of the restaurant Replies with a certain hauteur, But I await with patience, To see how Celestine will re-enter her slippers. She re-enters them with a groan.
Feel free to be first to leave comment.