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Poem a Day/April 7

(Johnson 273)


He 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?

 **

 Since this is one of the poems Rich discusses, I'm going to go ahead and defer to her. Everyone, please read Adrienne Rich's great--incredibly great--essay "Vesuvius at Home" (posted earlier this week...)

 AND, since it's from ED's annus mirabilis, 1862, we have an entry from the Dartmouth blog:

 https://journeys.dartmouth.edu/whiteheat/he-put-the-belt-around-my-life-f-330-j-273/

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