My Life had stood - a Loaded Gun - - (754)

My Life has stood - a Loaded Gun -In Corners - till a DayThe Owner passed - identified -And carried Me away -And now We roam in Sovereign Woods -And now We hunt the Doe -And every time I speak for Him -The Mountains straight reply -And do I smile, such cordial lightUpon the Valley glow -It is as a Vesuvian faceHad let its pleasure through -And when at Night -Our good Day done -I guard My Master Head -'Tis better than the Eider-Duck'sDeep Pillow - to have shared -To foe of His - I'm deadly foe -None stir the second time -On whom I lay a Yellow Eye -Or an emphatic Thumb -Though I than He - may longer liveHe longer must - than I -For I have the power to kill,Without the power to die -

Metaphor - the Gun becomes the vehicle for the tenor of the speakers life

'Owner' - anger?

Supreme - all-powerful together/ independent

Harbouring anger becomes dangerous = a loaded gun

E

Echo of the gun-shot - an explosion of rage

Vesuvian - the volcano that buried Pompeii - explosive, deathly anger  - destruction described in positive terms

E xpressing this rage is pleasurable - total release of emotions

Anaphoric use of 'And'

- Builds excitement, and deceptive sense of growing control

Moves from being passive ('He carried Me') to having control 'I guard'

Anger / Falling in Love / Control in a Patriarchal society / God

Denys conventional female roles - Preferring to guard her 'Master' than share his bed

Identified a female Doe to be killed

Appears to be just a Gun - but this is rejected by the first Stanza

Possible interpretations

Anger

The Owner represents the speakers anger, They are filled with explosive rage that they 'explode'.

Falling in Love

She claimed identify only when the 'owner' claims her for his own. Non-sexual relationship - preferring violence to sexuality - power control?

Control in a Patriarchal Society

The Gun stand for the aspects of the speakers character that have been socially and culturally associated with being masculine. The destruction of her feminine side in order to achieve the power she desires. Identified a female doe to be hunted and killed. She rejected laying in bed with her 'Owner' for guarding him.

God

'Owner' is God using humans (the 'Gun') as instruments of his will.

They all believe that they are in control however the 'Owner' also must be. They even appear to believe the 'emphatic Thumb' which pulls the trigger is its own

All interpretations seems to be confounded by the paradox of the final four lines

S

She seeks autonomy and freedom - she watched all her friends be married off

Poem

Notes