"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 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 them 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.


In Emily Dickinson's poem, "I felt a funeral in my brain" there is a use of simile, repitition, and personification. The speaker compares the funreal service to a drum using like. The speaker then repeats 'beating' and 'treading' to add emphasis on the actions. She also personifies silence in the last line, she states that they were in a 'race'.

The central purpose of the poem is death and how she feels about funerals. This poem represents how a funeral, and the overall feeling of losing someone, can change your mind , and take place in your soul, not just in front of you. Going to a funeral is the physical action; however, you have to cope with it mentally.

This poem has not strong impact on me. Her message did not make me think any differently; however, I credit this to my being raised around death.