The British poet Vicki Feaver published "The Gun" in The Book of Blood, which came out in 2006. The poem's speaker is at first wary when her partner brings a hunting rifle home, believing that its ominous, dangerous presence "changes" the house. But once the speaker gets used to the gun, she revels in the new energy it gives her and her partner. As the pair shoot and eat animals, they experience the intoxicating allure of power: the gun has given them a gleeful mastery over death.

• Read the full text of “The Gun”

• “The Gun” Summary

• “The Gun” Themes

  • 

    The Intoxication of Power

    Where this theme appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-30

• Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “The Gun”

  • Lines 1-5

    Bringing a gun ...
    ... itself:

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 5-9

    the grainy polished ...
    ... the green-checked cloth.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 10-15

    At first it’s ...
    ... through the head.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 16-20

    Soon the fridge ...
    ... fur and feathers.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 20-25

    There’s a spring ...
    ... stirring and tasting—

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 26-30

    excited as if ...
    ... sprouting golden crocuses.

    

    

    

    

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• “The Gun” Symbols

  • 

    The Gun

    Where this symbol appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-2
    • Lines 3-9
    • Lines 10-13
    • Lines 16-19
    • Line 23
    • Lines 24-27

• “The Gun” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

  • Simile

    

    

    

    

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    Where simile appears in the poem:

    • Lines 4-5: “stretched out like something dead / itself”
    • Lines 21-22: “your eyes gleam / like when sex was fresh”
    • Lines 24-30: “I join in the cooking: jointing / and slicing, stirring and tasting— / excited as if the King of Death / had arrived to feast, stalking / out of winters woods, / his black mouth / sprouting golden crocuses.”

  • Imagery

    

    

    

    

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    Where imagery appears in the poem:

    • Lines 5-6: “the grainy polished wood stock / jutting over the edge,”
    • Lines 7-9: “the long metal barrel / casting a grey shadow / on the green-checked cloth.”
    • Line 12: “dangling on orange string”
    • Lines 18-19: “Your hands reek of gun oil / and entrails.”
    • Lines 24-25: “jointing / and slicing, stirring and tasting—”
    • Lines 29-30: “his black mouth / sprouting golden crocuses.”

  • Irony

    

    

    

    

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    Where irony appears in the poem:

    • Lines 20-23: “There’s a spring / in your step; your eyes gleam / like when sex was fresh. / A gun brings a house alive.”

  • Juxtaposition

    

    

    

    

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    Where juxtaposition appears in the poem:

    • Lines 3-9: “You lay it on the kitchen table, / stretched out like something dead / itself: the grainy polished wood stock / jutting over the edge, / the long metal barrel / casting a grey shadow / on the green-checked cloth.”
    • Lines 16-22: “Soon the fridge fills with creatures / that have run and flown. / Your hands reek of gun oil / and entrails. You trample / fur and feathers. There’s a spring / in your step; your eyes gleam / like when sex was fresh.”
    • Lines 29-30: “his black mouth / sprouting golden crocuses.”

  • Consonance

    

    

    

    

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    Where consonance appears in the poem:

    • Line 1: “gun into”
    • Line 3: “lay,” “table”
    • Line 4: “stretched,” “like,” “something”
    • Line 5: “itself,” “polished,” “stock”
    • Line 6: “jutting,” “edge”
    • Line 7: “long metal barrel”
    • Line 8: “casting,” “grey”
    • Line 9: “green,” “checked cloth”
    • Line 10: “first it’s just practice”
    • Line 11: “perforating”
    • Line 12: “orange string”
    • Line 13: “from trees,” “garden”
    • Line 14: “rabbit shot”
    • Line 16: “fridge fills”
    • Line 17: “run,” “flown”
    • Line 18: “Your,” “hands,” “reek,” “gun,” “oil”
    • Line 19: “entrails,” “trample”
    • Line 20: “fur,” “feathers,” “There’s,” “spring”
    • Line 21: “your,” “step,” “gleam”
    • Line 22: “like,” “sex”
    • Line 24: “join in,” “cooking: jointing”
    • Line 25: “slicing,” “stirring,” “tasting”
    • Line 26: “excited,” “King,” “Death”
    • Line 27: “had arrived,” “feast, stalking”
    • Line 28: “winters woods”
    • Line 30: “sprouting,” “crocuses”

  • Assonance

    

    

    

    

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    Where assonance appears in the poem:

    • Line 2: “changes”
    • Line 3: “lay,” “table”
    • Line 4: “stretched,” “dead”
    • Line 5: “itself,” “polished,” “stock”
    • Line 6: “edge”
    • Line 7: “metal”
    • Line 8: “casting,” “shadow”
    • Line 10: “first”
    • Line 11: “perforating”
    • Line 16: “fridge fills with”
    • Line 19: “entrails,” “trample”
    • Line 21: “step”
    • Line 22: “sex,” “fresh”
    • Line 24: “join,” “jointing”
    • Line 25: “slicing,” “stirring,” “tasting”
    • Line 29: “mouth”
    • Line 30: “sprouting,” “golden crocuses”

  • Sibilance

    

    

    

    

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    Where sibilance appears in the poem:

    • Line 4: “stretched,” “something”
    • Line 5: “itself,” “stock”
    • Line 10: “first it’s just practice”
    • Line 20: “spring”
    • Line 21: “step”
    • Line 22: “sex”
    • Line 25: “slicing, stirring,” “tasting”
    • Line 26: “excited”
    • Line 27: “feast, stalking”
    • Line 30: “sprouting,” “crocuses”

  • Enjambment

    

    

    

    

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    Where enjambment appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-2: “house / changes”
    • Lines 4-5: “dead / itself”
    • Lines 5-6: “stock / jutting”
    • Lines 7-8: “barrel / casting”
    • Lines 8-9: “shadow / on”
    • Lines 11-12: “tins / dangling”
    • Lines 12-13: “string / from”
    • Lines 14-15: “shot / clean”
    • Lines 16-17: “creatures / that”
    • Lines 18-19: “oil / and”
    • Lines 19-20: “trample / fur”
    • Lines 20-21: “spring / in”
    • Lines 21-22: “gleam / like”
    • Lines 24-25: “jointing / and”
    • Lines 26-27: “Death / had”
    • Lines 27-28: “stalking / out”
    • Lines 29-30: “mouth / sprouting”

  • Parallelism

    

    

    

    

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    Where parallelism appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-2: “Bringing a gun into a house / changes it.”
    • Line 23: “A gun brings a house alive.”

• “The Gun” Vocabulary

  Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.

  • Grainy
  • Stock
  • Jutting
  • Casting
  • Perforating Tins
  • Reek
  • Entrails
  • Gleam
  • Crocus
  • (Location in poem: Line 5: “the grainy polished wood stock”)

• Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “The Gun”

  • Form

  • Meter

  • Rhyme Scheme

• “The Gun” Speaker

• “The Gun” Setting

• Literary and Historical Context of “The Gun”

• More “The Gun” Resources

  • External Resources

    • Hear the Poem — Listen to Vicki Feaver read "The Gun" and briefly discuss the experience that inspired the poem.

    • More About Feaver — To learn a little more about Vicki Feaver, check out this short overview of her life and work (including several audio clips of her poems).

    • An Interview with Feaver — Check out this interview with Vicki Feaver, in which she discusses the themes of murder and sex in her poems (among other things).

    • Film of "The Gun" — A short cinematic interpretation of "The Gun" (content note: includes some shaky/flashing images).

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