Life & Death

Both the poems "My Life had stood - a Loaded Gun" and "To His Coy Mistress" are centered on male and female relationships apparently. In the former, the relationship appears to be that of a father and daughter as the poem makes it clear that the male is protecting the female while having a definite shorter lifespan than the female. Further reinforcing this interpretation is the fact the male is identified as a owner but doesn't explicitly say what is his possession, only that he identifies the female and carries her, lending credence to the idea that she's his possession in the way a child is to a parent. Additionally, the poem points to the fact that the female is dependent on the male for survival as she has "but the power to kill, without - the power to die -", which is similar in the dependency children have on the parents to protect and keep them alive.

In the latter poem, the relationship is that of lovers, though the woman being labeled a mistress insinuates that the relationship is an affair. This poem is more difficult to decipher but it appears to be a eulogy to the mistress as there are mentions of limited time, a desire for more time and implications of what could have been. The man is also speaking in a state of melancholy as he makes implications of death with mentions of a grave and "a marble vault" which conjures up images of a mausoleum. Seeing as how I don't like poetry, its very possible that these interpretations are completely wrong. Another thing to note with these interpretations is that both relationships stand at opposite ends of the spectrum from a male perspective; with the father and daughter relationship being a necessity while the relationship with the lovers is an excess, if it is indeed an affair.