I felt a Funeral, in my Brain by Emily Dickinson (Poem)

“I Felt a Funeral, in my Brain” is a short poem by Emily Dickinson. It was first published posthumously in 1900. It’s unclear when Dickinson wrote the poem, but most scholars believe it was written in 1861.

Although many of Dickinson’s poems are about death, “I felt a Funeral, in my Brain” is not. It’s a poem about going insane. The funeral references are metaphors for the narrators upcoming mental collapse. However, it’s worth noting some people interpret the poem’s meaning differently, speculating it may actually describe weakening and loss of religious faith.

 

About Emily Dickinson

Emily Elizabeth Dickinson was an American poet. Although she is now regarded as an important figure in Amercian poetry, her creative efforts were largely unknown during her lifetime. A prolific writer, she penned close to 1,800 poems. She only placed 10 of them with magazines. Unique for her era, these few published poems did not fit the poetic rules in place at the time and were often severely edited before publication.

Many of Dickinson’s poems, deal with death, spirituality, and immortality. Although some of her family and friends may have been aware of Dickinson’s writing endeavors, her poetry may have been somewhat of a guilty secret. After her Death, Dickinson’s sister, Lavina, discovered the hoard of poems, making them public. Sadly, the first Emily Dickson poetry collection was published in 1890—four years after her death.

 

I Felt 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—

~~~