Emily Dickinson's "My Life had stood - a Loaded Gun- portrays women's role in the world of poetry during the 19th century. Women during this time period, in the literary world, faced scrutiny simply for being female. Dickinson attempts to reveal the hardships encountered by female poets and the effects of restrictions inflicted by society.
"My Life had stood - a Loaded Gun-, written in iambic pentameter, begins in the past tense and describes how Dickinson's life was prior overcoming her greatest fear, society. The speaker in the poem compairs her life to a loaded gun. She writes "My Life had stood - a Loaded Gun -/In Corners - till a Day/ The Owner passed - identified -/ And carried me away -". In other words, she is referring to fear that she felt as a result of society's resentment toward educated women like herself. This fear caused her to feel alone in the "corner-, or world of poetry, without support from anyone. From her newfound strength, she is "carried- beyond fearing the doubts of society. .
With this newfound strength, the speaker shifts from using lonely words such as "my- and "me- to describe her life to using words involving unity such as "we- to represent her togetherness with the hunter. Her sense of unity with the hunter, which symbolizes her shift in character from alone and passive to bold in the literary world, sparks her fearless attitude toward society. During Dickinson's life, her poetry was always kept very private. For a woman to express herself through poetry was very rare and frowned upon during that time period. The gun represents herself and the bravery she possesses now that the hunter is her master. Dickinson's word choice in the second stanza portrays to the reader, the speaker's newly discovered power. She describes the woods as "sovereign-, emphasizing her independence from society and all its woes. Since being found by the hunter, the gun represents Dickinson and the power she gains from expressing herself through poetry.
