The speaker imagines his song—his poetic voice—as a coat embroidered from top to bottom with old mythologies. He is annoyed that “fools” have taken that coat and worn it in public as though they had made it themselves. Instead of fighting to get it back, he tells his song to let them keep it. What matters more to him now is “more enterprise / In walking naked.” That nakedness is not humiliation; it feels like freedom. By throwing off the decorative coat, he gives up borrowed grandeur and chooses a barer, riskier, more honest way of writing. The mood is wry and proud, with a note of defiant relief.
A Coat — Summary
I made my song a coat Covered with embroideries Out of old mythologies From heel to throat; But the fools caught it, Wore it in the world's eye As though they'd wrought it. Song, let them take it For there's more enterprise In walking naked.