The Highwayman, Noyes

[nq:1]Hi, What does "up at attention" mean in the following phrase? "They had bound her up at attention, with many a sniggering jest, They had tied a rifle beside her, with the barrel beneath her breast" Thanks, Jarek[/nq]
See meaning number four in the below link.
http://www.m-w.co

[nq:1]What does "up at attention" mean in the following phrase? "They had bound her up at attention, with many a sniggering jest, They had tied a rifle beside her, with the barrel beneath her breast"[/nq]
It is how soldiers stand on parade i.e. the military posture of standing straight and still. The usual command to stand thus is "Attention."

Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs
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[nq:1]Hi, What does "up at attention" mean in the following phrase? "They had bound her up at attention, with many a sniggering jest, They had tied a rifle beside her, with the barrel beneath her breast" Thanks, Jarek[/nq]
"at attention" is the standard, formal military attitude. Standing at (or to) attention means standing erect, heels together, arms straight and down by your sides.

[nq:1]Hi, What does "up at attention" mean in the following phrase? "They had bound her up at attention, with many a sniggering jest, They had tied a rifle beside her, with the barrel beneath her breast"[/nq]
They had her bound up, and she was positioned as if she were "at attention." The highwayman showed no gratitude, anyway.

[nq:1]What does "up at attention" mean in the following phrase? "They had bound her up at attention, with many a sniggering jest, They had tied a rifle beside her, with the barrel beneath her breast"[/nq]
"Bound up" and "at attention" are separate expressions. The former is a phrasal verb suggesting, to the extent that its meaning is distinct from that of "bound" alone, that the object (here "

[nq:2]What does "up at attention" mean in the following phrase? ... a rifle beside her, with the barrel beneath her breast"[/nq]
[nq:1]"Bound up" and "at attention" are separate expressions. The former is a phrasal verb suggesting, to the extent that its ... rather than merely tethered, hobbled, or manacled. The latter phrase has been quite adequately explained by others in this thread.[/nq]

[nq:2]"Bound up" is a phrasal verb suggesting, to the ... of rope, rather than merely tethered, hobbled, or manacled. [/nq]
[nq:1]That is an interesting take on the phrase. I have always understood it as (bound her) (up at attention), the ... of "up" in the entry for "bind" is related to that meaning. "Tie up", of course, would be another matter.[/nq]
Bandaging is very close to what I take

[nq:2]That is an interesting take on the phrase. I have ... that meaning. "Tie up", of course, would be another matter.[/nq]
[nq:1]Bandaging is very close to what I take "binding up" to describe in this case, the only difference being that ... although of course they often have somewhat different scopes of usage beside their various specialized meanings according to context.[/nq]
Agreed.

[nq:1]"Bound up" and "at attention" are separate expressions. The former is a phrasal verb suggesting, to the extent that its ... rather than merely tethered, hobbled, or manacled. The latter phrase has been quite adequately explained by others in this thread.[/nq]
Thank you all.
Recently I've read a blog message praising learning poems by heart and that's the first one I've chosen.
Co

[nq:1]Recently I've read a blog message praising learning poems by heart and that's the first one I've chosen. Could anyone suggest me a next one? I liked The Highwayman very much. :-)[/nq]
"Lepanto" by G.K. Chesterton is not entirely politically correct these days, being about the last clash of civilizations, but it is loads of fun to read aloud with expression, and (I think I recall) somewha