Analysis My Life Had Stood a Loaded Gun Essay - 2511 Words

Emily Dickinson is a poet known for her cryptic, confusing language. Words are often put together in an unusual way and create deciphering difficulties for the reader. But behind all the confusion is a hidden meaning that becomes clear, and one realizes that all the odd word choices were chosen for a specific reason. The poem I will try to analyze is My Life Had Stood—A Loaded Gun, or number 754. I find this to be one of her most difficult poems to decode. However, I find the images fascinating and the last stanza very confusing but intriguing. What I first thought the poem was about and what I finally came to a conclusion on are two completely different thoughts. Through answering questions on the poem’s literary elements, thorough†¦show more content†¦In stanza two, the near rhyme is â€Å"And now We roam in Sovereign Woods—/And now We hunt the Doe—†, where the reader is able to detect the long ‘o’ in the two end words . In stanza three, the rhyme is in lines two and four: â€Å"†¦Upon the Valley glow—/It is as a Vesuvian face/Had let it’s pleasure through—†. The ‘oh’ sound in â€Å"glow† is mirrored with the longer ‘ooh’ in â€Å"through.† In stanza four, the near rhyme can be heard in lines one and three: â€Å"And when at Night—Our good Day done—/I guard My Master’s Head—/’Tis better than the Eider-Duck’s/Deep Pillow—to have shared—†. This near rhyme is more complex than previously mentioned rhymes, because the reader hears the rhyme of two sounds: â€Å"Day† in line one and â€Å"Eider† in line three are similar because of the ‘d’ and then a sharper-sounding vowel—an ‘a’ and an ‘e.’ Then, the words following, â€Å"done† and â€Å"duck,† respectively, also sound near to each other again because of the ‘d,’ but this time the duller, lower sounding vowel comes from the ‘o’ and ‘u.’ When â€Å"Day done† and â€Å"Eider-Duck† are read out loud, the reader can hear the double, almost alliteral sounds made from the repetitive ‘d’ and corresponding vowels. I found stanza five’s near rhyme to have some debate: â€Å"To foe of His—I’m deadly foe—/None stir the second time—/On whom I lay a Yellow Eye—/Or an emphatic Thumb—†. Initially, I thought the near rhyme could be heard with â€Å"time† and â€Å"thumb,†Show MoreRelatedAnalysis of Dickinsons Poem, My Life had Stood a Loaded Gun631 Words   |  3 Pagesâ€Å"My Life had stood – a Loaded Gun† In the poem, â€Å"My Life had stood – a Loaded Gun,† published around 1863, Emily Dickinson effectively uses metaphorical language in making the speaker compare him/her self to a loaded gun. The speaker speaks as if he/she is a loaded gun waiting to expose their full potential. When reading this poem, one could definitely see religious connotations in that one cannot reach his/her full potential without The Master’s – God’s – help and direction. In â€Å"My Life had stoodRead MoreAnalysis Of Emily Dickinson s Poem My Life Had Stood- A Loaded Gun 993 Words   |  4 Pagestheme in most of Dickinson s poems is the wonders of nature, and the identity of self, as well as death and life. 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