"I felt a funeral, in my Brain" By Emily Dickenson

[jenny1]

Hi, I have to analyze a I felt a funeral, in my brain and have no idea what it is talking about...I also never really analyzed poetry before, but I really need help with this. This was asked on a different post, but i dont get what was written. If anyone can help me, I would really appreciate it! Thanks so much!;)


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--

[Erichtho]

This a very interesting poem. It clearly deals with death; the protagonist is physically dead, but experiences consciously her own funeral - she hears the mourning, listens to the service and her coffin being carried - she is reduced to her hearing sense (And Being, but an Ear).
Then, when the coffin is being lowered into the grave she finally eludes this world and experiences new worlds (afterlife), so that she finally knows what comes after death.

I hope this gives you some access to the poem. I don't know Emily Dickinson and her works though, so this is only a guess.

[igc27]

This is a very interesting poem from Dickinson, which deals with psychological exploration. There are many different interpretations and I am not sure exactly how you are attempting to interpret it. But when I first read it and studied it, we decided upon two possible interpretations; a person experiencing their own funeral (shown by the semantic field of a funeral - 'mourners' etc. and the the coffin that Erichtho spoke about) this is probably a more common interpretation, yes, so I will choose to focus more on this. But do consider the possibility that the 'mind going numb' could suggest that the speaker is alive but cannot function, experiencing a great psychological pain. And the 'treading-treading-' imagery could either represent mourners, or the continous ongoing of mental torture, having to keep going/living. I personally find the 'And Being, but an Ear' image sooo interesting. This is an example of synecdoche, and the dying person (?) is reduced to just an ear. This really creates a feeling of helplessness, as the speaker can hear, but not act. Back again to the funeral imagery, you could talk about the anaphora of 'And' increasing the pace as the coffin is lowered into the ground? Progressing towards the finality when the coffin is covered, completely dead.
You mentioned not knowing how to analyse poems, honestly theres no silence. Just read it as many times as you can, and don't be put off if you don't understand it. Put your mind into a simple place and note all the things, e.g. when you pause and what words are repeated and rhyme, how you feel when you read it. It's all important, and deliberately created by the poet!