My Life Had Stood A Loaded Gun

Stylistic Analysis of Emily Dickinson

Anger outlives actions. Pent-up anger is released in short bursts and dies long after its owner. “My Life had stood - a Loaded Gun” by Emily Dickinson exemplifies this idea with a relationship between a man and his gun. Dickinson uses Personification, metaphors, and her unique formatting style in “My Life had stood - a Loaded Gun” to illustrate pent-up anger’s relationship with its owner.

Dickinson uses the personification of a gun to show pent-up anger outliving its owner. Dickinson shows this when she states, “Though I than He - may longer live”, which refers to the gun, or anger, living longer than the man. This also shows the fact that your anger will be a part of your legacy, hinting at the common saying of dying twice, once when your heart stops and twice when you are last thought about. Dickinson shows another example of personification when she announced, “My Life had stood - a Loaded Gun,. - In Corners - till a Day, The Owner passed - identified, - And carried Me away -”, this quote personifies a gun waiting to bottle up

An example of this is when she states, “My Life had stood - a Loaded Gun, - In Corners - till a Day, The Owner passed - identified, - And carried Me away -, And now We roam in Sovreign Woods -, And now We hunt the Doe -, And every time I speak for Him, The Mountains straight reply -”. The use of capitalization and hyphens shows how before the anger is released, the writing is in short bursts, like anger, and when it is released it flows more, similar to peacefulness. This more flowy writing is continued until the last stanza, where the gun returns to being unused and the anger is not able to be released. Dickinson’s style choice adds to the writing because in real life people with built-up anger are often very short-tempered and have quick outbursts, and after they release that anger they are slow to anger and