By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
‘My Life had stood – a Loaded Gun’ is one of Emily Dickinson’s most popular poems. Yet it is also an extremely subtle and elliptical piece of poetry, whose meaning proves elusive. In this post, we’re going to explore some of the implications of Dickinson’s central comparison between ‘My Life’ and ‘a Loaded Gun’, analysing the language and imagery of the poem.