Data Bases • Custom Term Papers • Free Term Papers • Free Research Papers • Free Essays • Free Book Reports • Plagiarism? Links • Top 100 Term Paper Sites • Top 25 Essay Sites • Top 50 Essay Sites • Search 97,000 Papers @ DirectEssays.com • Search 101,000 Papers @ ExampleEssays.com • Search 90,000 Papers @ MegaEssays.com Free Essays • Term Paper Sites • Chuck III's Free Essays • Free College Essays • TermPaperSites.com • My Term Papers • Get Free Essays • Essay World • Planet Papers	Search Lots of Essays Back to Subjects - Poetry Use of compression in Dickinsons My Life had stooda Loaded Gun Use of compression in Dickinsons My Life had stooda Loaded Gun My Life had stood—a Loaded Gun— Emily Dickinson is quoted as writing to Samuel Bowles that "the old words are numb—and there a'nt any new ones" (4). This absence of variety in Dickinson's life urged her to redefine the words that already existed by creating more or less of an emphasis on certain words. She achieved this effect by omitting key words and dislocating punctuation in a sentence and therefore giving new meaning to them. In her poem My Life had stood—a Loaded Gun--, her use of compression gives more force to each fragmented sentence, breaking it up into almost metaphoric terms of the components of the gun itself. Common in all of Dickinson’s poems is the infamous “dash” or “hyphen”; it is technically designed “to connect the parts of a compound word or the parts of a word divided for any purpose” (Webster’s Dictionary pg 401). Dickinson certainly took advantage of the “for any purpose” aspect of the definition when she began using the dash not only to separate a compound word, but to omit whole words, emphasize a pause or to connect two ideas without the use of conventional grammar or punctuation. In disrupting punctuation, Dickinson reveals the open nature of language that conventional punctuation seeks to regulate and makes new groupings and relationships between words apart from linguistic conventions. This is illustrated throughout the poem, beginning at the first line. My Life had stood—a Loaded Gun— The Owner passed—identified— If the word "like" is added in the first line to read: "My life had stood [like] a loaded gun" there becomes too much emphasis on the association between the gun and her life; noted that emphasis is desired later on, but throughout the first stanza she is trying to make a strong statement of the two objects, herself and the gun, independent from each other. Breaking the sentence up individualizes the gun and gives it its own power and independent qualities. This individualization continues until line four where the reader sees for the first time, the gun and Dickinson's life as one, as a metaphor for each other. The pronoun "Me" in the last line is now referring to Dickinson and the gun as one; The gun is never mentioned independently again, it is always "me" and the other person who is included in the addressed "we" is the owner who "passed—identified—and carried [her] away—" (line 4). This oneness with the gun seems to give Dickinson a sense of being whole and that wholeness is reflected in the completion of her sentences. And now We roam in Sovereign Woods— And every time I speak for Him— The Mountains straight reply— And do I smile, such a cordial light In contrast to the fragmented first stanza, the sentence structure of the second stanza does not promote missing key words and that allows the sentences to flow. "And now we roam", "And now we hunt" are flowing phrases that suggest a tranquility and confidence within the soul of the poet that was not present before. In line two in the second stanza Dickinson pluralizes and capitalizes the word “Corners”. Out of context this does not seem to be unorthodox but put into the flow of a stanza that is pregnant with individual emphasis, it suggests a paradox and uncertainty in the poet. Dickinson’s newfound contentedness is confirmed within the third stanza when Dickinson states that her smile emits such a "cordial light" that it makes the valley glow and she compares the intensity of this glow to the glow of the Vesuvian volcano when it erupted. This sense of tranquility remains through the fourth stanza, though not as serene. 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-- The break in the thirteenth line is not so much an omission of a word but the submission of an afterthought, similar to the purpose of a comma or parenthesis mainly to let the reader know that "Our good day (is) done." The next three lines are used to express Dickinson's relief that she exists metaphorically as this gun instead of her victim, the "Eider-Duck" and this is where she begins to separate herself again from the other people/objects she speaks of. Line sixteen could be written "Deep pillow that I might have shared" implying that she could be as dead as a duck and sharing its' "pillow" for the night but instead she separates the duck's pillow from the word "shared" showing the reader her relief for being separate from the duck. She does the same thing in line seventeen as she separates herself from the foe of her owner declaring her loyalty to her owner and danger to the foe. "To foe of His—I'm deadly foe—" she writes. The break in the sentence makes Dickinson seem more intimidating, "I'm deadly foe" is much more effective than "To any foe of my master, I am a deadly foe." The added words drag the point out and diminish its powerfulness. Though I than He—may longer live He longer must—than I— The last stanza is similar to the first stanza being that Dickinson is trying to distinguish herself from someone or something. In the first stanza it was the gun and now in the last stanza it is the owner. The first line hints as if Dickinson is trying to break away from the owner. The first part of the break includes both herself and the owner, "Though I than He" she begins. On the other side of the break it is clear what she is talking about, she may live longer than her owner. There is a definite difference that she wishes to illustrate by leaving out the words altogether and leaving the reader to infer that what "He (must do longer)" than Dickinson, is to live life eternally even after his body has died. She again sees herself separated from her owner and even from death; she cannot be like either of them and she illustrates this in the last break of the 22nd line when she writes, "—than I—." Once this alienation of herself is clear, she only needs to separate what she has the power to do and what she does not have the power to do. Line 23 is a full sentence implying that her confidence has begun to flow again and she is confident to say, "For I have but the power to kill…" and then the solitary "Without" follows which gives the reader the idea that she isn't as confident of what power she lives without. The last break of the last line "the power to die" is separated from any sentence illustrating that that is the power that she lives without. Emily Dickinson's use of compression in her poetry is essential to understanding its nature. Were the sentences to be made complete and the poem conventionally punctuated, the essence of the experience it describes would be lost. My Life had stood—a Loaded Gun— is the title of an experience that cannot be told literally. To compensate for this inability, Dickinson tells it in the fragmented sentences of a metaphor. Unlike Whitman and Emerson she describes the feelings of the experience by painting a picture with her words, while others describe the actual experience in words. The latter is less difficult being that the description is of a concrete and palpable experience. In Dickinson’s case however, the experience is ineffable and her ability to illustrate an emotion by taking apart words, putting them back together and unconventionally punctuating a sentence is at the least commendable. Denma, Kamilla. Emily Dickinson’s Volcanic Punctuation. 17 Feb. 2001 *http://www.colorado.edu/EDIS/journal/articles/11.1.Denman.html* Bibliography: Word Count: 1326
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