I felt a Funeral, in my Brain by Emily Dickinson — Analysis & Translation

Original Poem

I felt a Funeral, in my Brain 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 -

Translation (English)

I felt a funeral happening in my head, and people moving back and forth They kept walking back and forth until it seemed like understanding was breaking through And when they all sat down, a service like a drum Kept beating until I thought My mind was going numb Then I heard them lift a box and it creaked across my soul With those same heavy boots again Then space began to ring As if all the heavens were a bell, and existence was just an ear And I, along with silence, were some strange race, wrecked and alone here Then a plank in my mind broke, and I fell down and down And hit a new world with every fall, and then I stopped knowing anything

About the Poet

Emily Dickinson (19th century)

Emily Elizabeth Dickinson (1830 – 1886) was an American poet known for her innovative use of form and syntax. Although largely unpublished during her lifetime, her work is now considered groundbreaking and canonical. Her poetry often explores themes of nature and mortality.

Historical Context

Literary Form: Lyric poem
When Written: Around 1861
Background: Emily Dickinson wrote 'I felt a Funeral, in my Brain' during a period of intense creativity. The poem explores themes of madness, despair, and the irrational nature of the universe, reflecting Dickinson's introspective and often somber view of the human condition.

Sources: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/45706/i-felt-a-funeral-in-my-brain-340, https://poets.org/poem/i-felt-funeral-my-brain-280, https://www.litcharts.com/poetry/emily-dickinson/i-felt-a-funeral-in-my-brain

Detailed Explanation

Emily Dickinson's poem 'I felt a Funeral, in my Brain' uses the metaphor of a funeral to explore the speaker's descent into madness. The poem begins with the sensation of a funeral occurring within the speaker's mind, with mourners moving back and forth, symbolizing the repetitive and overwhelming thoughts. The 'Service, like a Drum' suggests a relentless pounding that numbs the mind. As the poem progresses, the lifting of a 'Box' and the 'Boots of Lead' evoke the weight of despair and the soul's burden. The imagery of 'Space' tolling and 'Heavens' as a 'Bell' creates a sense of cosmic disorientation, where the speaker feels isolated and disconnected from reality. The breaking of a 'Plank in Reason' signifies a complete collapse of rational thought, leading to a freefall into an unknown abyss. The poem captures the terrifying experience of losing one's grip on sanity, with each 'plunge' into a new world representing a deeper level of confusion and loss of understanding.

Themes

Literary Devices

Word Dictionary

Word	Meaning	Translation	Transliteration
Mourners	people grieving	people attending a funeral to express sorrow	morn-ers
treading	walking	walking repeatedly or heavily	tred-ing
numb	without feeling	unable to feel anything	num
creak	make a squeaky sound	produce a harsh, high-pitched noise	kreek
toll	ring slowly	sound of a bell ringing slowly	tohl
solitary	alone	being alone or isolated	sol-i-tair-ee
plank	flat piece of wood	a long, flat piece of timber	plangk
plunge	fall suddenly	to fall or drop suddenly	plunj
wrecked	destroyed	ruined or destroyed	rekt
sense	understanding	ability to perceive or understand	sens
reason	logical thinking	the power of the mind to think and understand	ree-zon
service	ceremony	a formal religious ceremony	sur-vis
heavens	sky or universe	the sky or universe as a whole	hev-ens
being	existence	the state of existing	bee-ing
funeral	ceremony for the dead	a ceremony to honor and bury the dead	fyoo-ner-al