Emily Dickinson's I Felt A Funeral, In My Brain

To understand any poem by Emily Dickinson is a challenge. After reading this poem a few times, I decided that the only way to comment on it was to scan all the possible meanings of certain lines and words that Dickinson chose to use. This is my own interpretation of the poem, not to be confused with a definite idea of what Dickinson was trying to convey in her writing of "I Felt a Funeral, in my Brain" (280).

Comparing and Contrasting Dickinson’s Poems, Because I Could Not Stop for Death and I Heard a Fly Buzz - When I Died

Analysis of I Heard a Fly Buzz When I Died and Because I Could Not Stop for Death by Emily Dickinson

In some instances within literature, writers surprise readers by incorporating ideas that the reader may or may not expect. Within Emily Dickinson’s poem “I heard a Fly Buzz When I Died”, readers are introduced to a ghostly speaker that discusses the scene of their deathbed. Readers are exposed to many surprises throughout various aspects of the poem.

“The straightforward mention of ‘reason’ suffering some kind of misfortune makes it hard not to conclude that Dickinson is specifically referring to some kind of madness. She is not using a metaphor of a storm in this poem. She is openly declaring that she felt as if something in her brain has died” (Hart, Par. 9). While Dickinson tends to use metaphors in most of her poems to describe her emotions, the only metaphorical reference in this poem is the actual funeral itself. The funeral is simply a representation of the feelings of depression taking over her brain. More symbolism can be interpreted in this poem when considering the confined life that Dickinson lived. She spent much of her time in her room, isolating herself from the world and writing poetry. As the casket is part of a funeral service, it can be interpreted that it is a resemblance of her mind and body being trapped inside a restricted place, where she cannot escape. From an article written by Eleanor Wilner, she describes how Dickinson’s secluded life contributed to her pains in life and desire to write poetry. “The struggle involved in such a total project of suppression is reflected in many of her poems, like the often quoted ‘I felt a Funeral, in my Brain,’ which suggest a mind threatened with dissolution, turning it on itself, walling itself up as she did in her father’s house, using

“I Felt a Funeral in my Brain”, by Emily Dickenson, is a poem of despair, narrating the experience and feelings associated with sinking into an episode of depression, and arguably losing her sanity in the process. Depression is defined as feelings of severe despondency and dejection, and is described as a persistent feeling of sadness and loss of interest, affecting how you think, feel, and behave. Creating difficulty in maintaining day to day life, and feeling as though life is not worth living.

Emily Dickinson’s “Because I could not stop for Death” is a remarkable masterpiece that exercises thought between the known and the unknown. Critics call Emily Dickinson’s poem a masterpiece with strange “haunting power.”

Emily Dickinson’s poem, “After great pain, a formal feeling comes-“is a profound portrayal of the debilitating process of grief human beings undergo when confronted with a horrific tragedy. The response to that ultimate pain is the predominance of numbness, “After great pain, a formal feeling comes-/The Nerves sit ceremonious, like Tombs-“(1-2). This is a poem that must be read slowly to become saturated in the melancholy, the dehumanization of suffering as it affects each aspect of the body without reference to the chaotic emotionality of it. The abundance of metaphors within Dickinson’s poem provides the means to empathize the necessity of numbness. It is also through the use of punctuation and capitalization, depicting the presence of a

It was not death, for I stood up- pg. 18 Thesis: Dickinson delays the speaker’s true state of being through the use of gothic elements, repetition, and synesthesia in order to to convey their inability to give an explanation for their despair.

Emily Dickinson, one of the most famous poets, is known for her intense, deep poetry that captures her internal struggles and emotions. According to the article, “Emily Dickinson’s ‘I felt a Funeral, in My Brain” by Gudrip Panesar, she does not involve herself with the outside world, and spends most of her time in seclusion with her thoughts (2). Her poems are unique as they involve strong emotions and symbolic references that are often ambiguous and interpreted by the reader. One of her famous poems, “I felt a Funeral, in My Brain” embodies these elements. This poem prevails her internal struggles of depression and distress, which makes her feel like she is losing consciousness.

Poet Emily Dickinson, in her poem, “I Felt a Funeral in My Brain”, traces the speakers descent into madness and losing a grip on reality. Dickinson’s purpose is to reveal the mental state she seems to be in and the stability she seems to be losing by metaphorical means. Dickinson presents a despairing and foreboding tone throughout her piece to empathize her internal struggle and disintegrating mind. In her first line Dickinson states,”I felt a Funeral, in my Brain”.

“Because I Could Not Stop For Death”, a poem by Emily Dickinson, contains an extended metaphor that gives the poem two different meanings that complement each other. This extended metaphor is the one that identifies marriage with Death. In the poem, Death is personified as a man who takes a woman on a carriage ride. The woman abandons everything she knows and watches life pass by until she arrives at an old house that would be her grave, where she would rest for eternity, aware of her loneliness and the passing of time.

Emily Dickinson like many poets of her lifetime was misunderstood and isolated. Her poetry was reflection her frustrations and her obsession with the unexplainable. She was rejected by society as well as her mentors due to her ideas and dark poetry. As time went by she became withdrawn, devoting her life to perfectionalize her writing. It was during this period of isolation that Dickinson wrote some of her greatest work, for instance “ Because I Could Not Stop For Death” published in 1890 after her death. Personification, symbols, and the setting are use to illustrate and maintain the strong theme of death through the poem.

In the second stanza of the poem the poet presents the reader with a funeral setting. The mourners are all seated, and a service begins. The poet describes this service as being quite intense ("like a Drum (that) Kept beating—beating"). The intensity of the service causes the poet’s mind to go numb. The numbness represents the death of her mind.