The meaning of I Feel a Funeral in My Brain by Emily Dickinson

 

I felt a Funeral, in my Brain,
And Mourners to and fro
Kept treading - treading - till it seemed
That Sense was breaking through - 
And when they all were seated,
A Service, like a Drum -
Kept beating - beating - till I thought
My mind was going numb -

And then I heard them lift a Box
And creak across my Soul
With those same Boots of Lead, again,
Then Space - began to toll,

As all the Heavens were a Bell,
And Being, but an Ear,
And I, and Silence, some strange Race,
Wrecked, solitary, here -

And then a Plank in Reason, broke,
And I dropped down, and down -
And hit a World, at every plunge,
And Finished knowing - then -

By: Emily Dickinson (1861)

 


The poem I Feel a Funeral in My Brain by Emily Dickinson in 1861 is represented the speaker’s mind which feels deep emptiness, loss, and sadness by describing the procession of her death which can be seen in the first stanza. It shows the aspect of metaphor that the speaker equalized her brain as a funeral; what was going on in her head. She felt that the funeral was taking place on her head which could be seen on the second line. In the second stanza, she repeated the word “beating-beating” like a drum. It means the mind is reflected in her psychology where they spin on her head until she felt numb and empty. 

In the third stanza, she was describing her procession as her sorrow and despair which can be seen in the first line of this stanza showed auditory imagery by mentioning she heard them lift a box on the text. In the situation of her funeral, she only could hear since she was in that box. Lifting her body made her soul feel creak, cut, and something lost it meanwhile, the fourth stanza described she felt solitary even though was in the sacrifice place. The speaker mentioned heaven as the bell meanwhile on the next lines mention that her ear and herself felt silent, strange, wrecked, and solitary. The bell had a noise sound and echoing whole the room. It was interpreted that she was still solitary even though in a crowded place. 

In the last stanza, she realized that she was in the emptiness that had been lifted by mourners. She only could hear and feel the sense since she had died. She could not see the situation because her eyes had closed. In the first line was mentioned that plank or the piece of wood broke means her resting place has been prepared. As soon as possible, she was buried by dropping her body down. Hit a world meant she had closed to the sand or earth. In the last line, she mentioned “finished knowing” which interpreted that her life had finished and already known the end of her life.

 

References

LitCharts. (2021). LitCharts I felt a Funeral, in my Brain Study Guide. LitCharts. https://www.litcharts.com/poetry/emily-dickinson/i-felt-a-funeral-in-my-brain

Dickinson, E. (2018). I felt a Funeral, in my Brain, (340) by Emily… | Poetry Foundation. Poetry Foundation. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/45706/i-felt-a-funeral-in-my-brain-340

A Short Analysis of Emily Dickinson’s “I felt a Funeral, in my Brain.” (2016, November). Interesting Literature. https://interestingliterature.com/2016/11/a-short-analysis-of-emily-dickinsons-i-felt-a-funeral-in-my-brain/

I felt a Funeral, in my Brain | Poem Analysis. (2016, April 4). Poem Analysis. https://poemanalysis.com/emily-dickinson/i-felt-a-funeral-in-my-brain/

Spacey, A. (2020, April 7). Analysis of Poem “I felt a Funeral, in my Brain” by Emily Dickinson. Owlcation - Education; Owlcation - Education. https://owlcation.com/humanities/Analysis-of-Poem-I-Felt-A-Funeral-in-my-Brain-by-Emily-Dickinson

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