“My Life had stood—a Loaded Gun—” is one of Emily Dickinson’s most controversial poems. After every read Dickinson’s poem gets a new interpretation, which keeps the poem alive. There are a few common understandings of this poem but everybody’s perception may not be exactly alike. The concept of this poem is based around one of the most used poetic devices to this day, which is the metaphor. A metaphor is a figure of speech used to give you an idea of an object or an idea by highlighting specific similarities between two different things. The metaphor of the poem “My Life had stood—a Loaded Gun—”was a loaded gun and its ability to be used to its full potential and Dickinson’s life. The poem is in first person point of view. From the viewpoint of a speaker who compares her life to “a Loaded Gun.” the voice of the gun and the voice of the speaker are the same throughout the poem. “My Life had stood—a Loaded Gun—” is a short poem of twenty-four lines divided into six stanzas. Emily Dickinson’s life stood a loaded gun, she waited her time for her poetry to be fired upon a generation that will be changed forever.
There are two common understandings of the metaphor in “My Life had…show more content… Basically a Loaded Gun in a Corner until its “Owner” realized she would be needed, came by, “identified” it, and took it away. The speaker speaks from the guns perspective and portrays what her life is like now that she’s out of that corner and being put to use by her “Owner”. The gun and its owner have the power to go anywhere they want. (“We roam in Sovereign Woods”) and how anything is possible when together. (“And now we hunt the Doe”). The speaker later flips the script from the power of the ultimate “We” to focus on her great individual power: “And every time I speak for Him—/ The Mountains straight reply.” In these lines, the speaker describes how she only acts at his