Read "He Put the Belt Around my Life" by Emily Dickinson online for free on Textopian. Full text with search, annotations, highlights, and AI-powered reading aids.
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, knew you not / For whom I must decline?