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In her own words

My Life had stood – a Loaded Gun

Emily Dickinson · 1830-1886

My Life had stood – a Loaded Gun –In Corners – till a DayThe Owner passed – identified –And carried Me away –
And now We roam in Sovereign Woods –And now We hunt the Doe –And every time I speak for HimThe Mountains straight reply –
And do I smile, such cordial lightOpon the Valley glow –It is as a Vesuvian faceHad let it's pleasure through –
And when at Night – Our good Day done –I guard My Master's Head –'Tis better than the Eider-Duck'sDeep Pillow – to have shared –
To foe of His – I'm deadly foe –None stir the second time –On whom I lay a Yellow Eye –Or an emphatic Thumb –
Though I than He – may longer liveHe longer must – than I –For I have but the power to kill,Without – the power to die –

See it in her own handHoughton Library, Harvard, page 1 of 2

The poems here are transcribed from Dickinson's own manuscripts, which are in the public domain. Her dashes, capital letters, and spellings are kept as she wrote them, so these read differently from the smoothed versions printed after her death. The manuscript images are reproduced courtesy of the libraries that hold them: the Boston Public Library (no known copyright restrictions), Amherst College Archives and Special Collections (free for non-commercial and educational use, with credit), and the Houghton Library at Harvard University, whose policy permits publishing images of its public-domain holdings. The modern dash-faithful scholarly editions remain under copyright and are not used here.