In the last stanza of Emily Dickinson's poem "My Life had stood- a Loaded Gun", when she says
"Though I than He-may longer live,"
" He longer must -than- I-"
"For I have but the power to kill,"
" Without-the power-to die"
her words confused me at first. But when I started to analyze these lines more I started to make a connection to the power of poetry in general, the words of poetry are immortal and continue to live on forever. When she says "For I have the power to kill, Without -the power-to die", I think she's referring to how her words have the power to to kill and cannot end or be taken back once they are out there , so her words will be imperishable. When she is saying "He longer must than I " she is referring to men and how they are to live physically longer so that the force of her words will continue to exist in a male dominated world and in time, proving how powerful the words of a women truly are.
Why are men "to live physically longer"? Keep in mind that the poet,like the author in fiction is not the narrator, is not necessarily the speaker in a poem. Who is the speaker in this poem?
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