Ode to My Suit Summary

The speaker addresses his suit directly. The suit is partially personified, and is also filled by the emotions and body of the speaker. Their relationship is intimate and secure. The suit is part of his morning routine, and by extension the fundamental structure of his life. This routine allows him to write. Since the suit allows him to enter and engage with the world, it is supporting his basic identity. As the outside world shapes him, he shapes the suit. The speaker sees the suit as having a life just like his. He compares the suit to his own soul. In a dream realm, the speaker and suit fly together. Then he speculates about how he and his suit will die, presuming that regardless of whether their deaths are violent or peaceful, they will be together. The poem returns to their morning routine. The speaker reminds himself why he greets his suit with respect, and then forgets the suit, as they are “one being” and “one body.” He recalls all they have been through together. In the end, he struggles about whether to qualify his idea of their unity, but finally evaluates their relationship from his experience of their past and present.