"I felt a Funeral, in my Brain"

I felt a Funeral, in my Brain,
And Mourners to and fro
Kept treading--treading--till it seemed
That Sence was breaking through--

And when they were all seated,
A Service, like a Drum--
Kept beating--beating till I thought
My mind was going numb--

And 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--


In this poem, Dickinson develops a relaxed tone to describe the events of a funeral-- assumably the speaker's. In this poem as well, Dickinson writes in a first-person view, establishing death as a less ominous subject and more of an acceptable fact of life. In the first stanza, the speaker discusses mourners wandering around her, and throughout the poem they partake in standard funeral proceedings. The speaker merely observes and seems to be separated from the mourners. In the third stanza, the speaker refers to a Box being lifted by the mourners and describes the noises around her, which implies that it is the speaker who is being mourned. In the fourth stanza, the speaker posits the notion that she can have no influence on the outside world by portraying herself as an "Ear"; She can only listen. Along with Silence, the speaker rests completely alone in solitude. The final stanza ends abruptly, which could represent how suddenly death occurs. After reading this poem, I have learned to make life what I want it to be while I still have the opportunity, because there will come a time when I will have no influence on it.