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

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Emily Dickinson’s “I felt a Funeral, in my Brain” creates a puzzling situation in the very first line which causes analysts’ opinions to diverge. Many different interpretations arise depending on if they interpret the funeral literally or metaphorically. Emily Dickinson’s poem depicts a funeral, which occurs in the speaker’s mind. This funeral is not a typical funeral because the proceedings of the ceremony affect the speaker. Her “mind was going numb” (Dickinson 8) from the beating of the drums, and she felt people “creak across my Soul” (Dickinson 10) which implies a painful and uncomfortable experience. Goldfarb argues the speaker moves “into a new realm of perception,” Moran asserts she loses her sanity throughout the poem and Pineiro reasons the speaker passes into an endless world after death. When analyzing Emily Dickinson’s “I felt a Funeral, in my Brain,” critics acknowledge something dies, but many differences are present, and the extent to which their theories diverge demonstrates the power of diction to create complexity.
The way in which a critic interprets the first line develops the interpretations of the rest of the poem and the differences in the topic among the analysts prove the power of diction to create intricacy. Although Goldfarb and Moran both interpret the first line as a metaphor, the …show more content…

If Dickinson had used simple and plain words throughout the poem, the analyses would all be the same. There would be no variance. This poem demonstrates effective poetic techniques to create a piece of art, which can take on many different meanings depending on the reader. Even with all the criticisms in the world, no “right” answer exists, just different interpretations leading to different conclusions coming from different

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Throughout the poem, Dickinson describes Death as a male that keeps coming for her while she is trying to escape him. In the first two lines, she uses personification, giving Death human characteristics. “Because I could not stop for death, He kindly stopped for me,” emphasizing death as a male and how he has stopped for her at this point. In lines 9-12, Dickinson uses imagery to create a picture for the reader to emphasize what she and Death are witnessing as they are passing through the area. Imagery is used throughout the poem to illustrate what she is seeing such as children at recess and passing the Fields of Gazing Grain and watching the Sun Set as they take a walk.

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1231 Words | 5 Pages

Dickinson's poem “I felt a Funeral, in my Brain” and Poe’s short story “The Tell-Tale Heart” they both have a connection with insanity or madness. Dickinson’s poem has two meanings, a literal meaning and a figurative meaning. The literal meaning is the process of the funeral, the figurative meaning is the speaker losing awareness and sanity. Poe’s short story is about insanity that turns into a deeper meaning, that is obsession with getting rid of something, that gets progressively worse as the story goes on. The narrator and the speaker’s sanity deteriorates overtime.

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932 Words | 4 Pages

Throughout her poem, “I heard a Fly buzz – when I died –,” the speaker of the poem is dying in her deathbed surrounded by loved ones, and how she is experiencing a memory of death and how she is enduring it. As the people at the deathbed are “gathering firm” around her, they are in an understanding that she will die and are waiting for her demised (Dickinson). The “eyes” of the beloved ones were flowing of tears and crying to the dying loved one of the deathbed (Dickinson). Throughout Dickinson’s poem, no happiness is brought upon inside the poem because all that the author sees the theme of death as sadness and

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1584 Words | 7 Pages

Although it is negative, Dickinson’s poem displays the reality of grieving that can be summarized for now with one line from it: “First–Chill–then Stupor– then the letting go –”(Dickinson 13). Although this quote may not make sense to someone who has not read the poem it will be explained

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540 Words | 3 Pages

Donald Justice’s Poem and Literary Techniques Many people read poems as if there is an enlightening experience waiting to change their lives. Poem by Donald Justice is an intriguing, unique poem that mocks this idea, emphasizing to readers that poems are not meant to be profound. To convey this idea, Donald Justice uses literary techniques such as meter and scansion (or lack thereof), and strong metaphors.

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860 Words | 4 Pages

In the definite poem “Introduction to Poetry” by Billy Collins, the narrator enlightens the reader with a valuable directive, stating we must delve deep inside a poem to fully experience it rather than plucking and forcing out the details to determine the meaning. The speaker uses ample amounts of personification and metaphors for the purpose of vividly portraying his authentic emotions towards those who wrongly scrutinize poetry and the right way to read a poem. Imagery is also included to exemplify how a poem is not just a stationary entity, but rather varies based on how the reader interprets it. The speaker uses a sarcastic, yet frustrated tone to demonstrate the shift from his expectations and aspirations of analyzing poetry to the destruction

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401 Words | 2 Pages

Dickinson’s use of repetition and onomatopoeia helps show just how mad the narrator really is. It is stated,” Kept beating-beating- till I thought my mind was going numb”. The narrator is hearing noises that aren’t really there like the “beating” of a drum which supports the idea she is crazy. The first person point of view helps show that apparent funeral that is taking place inside of her mind. She states,” I felt a funeral, in my Brain…

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696 Words | 3 Pages

I have done some research about this poem and I find the author 's story and background quite dark. But I 've done this because I was stuck on it, and wanted some other people 's thoughts and how they received the poem, after searching for a long time, I realised that there was no widely accepted single interpretation of the poem, (I had to do that because I felt guilty for reading other people 's interpretations, felt like cheating) eventually, I think I crafted my own interpretation, I also have some supporting evidence (or so I think) to back it up. I would like some feedback and see where you would fine loopholes in this interpretation of this poem. The first four lines are getting the reader to understand that "I" is a mirror, for it is silver and exact, having no preconceptions.

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975 Words | 4 Pages

In the poem “Because I could not stop for death” by Emily Dickinson, death is described as a person, and the narrator is communicating her journey with death in the afterlife. During the journey the speaker describes death as a person to accompany her during this journey. Using symbolism to show three locations that are important part of our lives. The speaker also uses imagery to show why death isn 't’ so scary.

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625 Words | 3 Pages

The poem that stood out the most while reading this assortment of Emily Dickinson poems, was her poem numbered 656/520. This poem used imagery in numerous ways throughout in order to show the audience the important themes and the overall meaning of this work of literature. The poem’s main theme was about a walk on the beach that the poet encountered in the early morning. Although the poem is about a beach it can also give the audience contextual clues into other aspects of life.

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763 Words | 4 Pages

Dickinson began writing early on, yet her first piece was published after her death. Dickinson’s writing can be describe as gloomy or dark, whereas Whitman’s is not. Throughout her work she portrays how life merely continues and exploits the darker, less noticeable meaning of daily life events. Her writing is extremely precise, she uses slant rhymes through her writing. By doing such she is able to put emphasis on certain words to convey the prominence of what is being said.

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2095 Words | 9 Pages

On the one hand, if one goes deeply into Dickinson’s poem “This is my letter to the world”, where one can say that this poem can be appreciated that the speaker is complaining about the way that life has gone on. At first sight it is possible to observe that the language used by Dickinson was very simple because it was easy to understand. However, it was more complex than it seems to be, because a different meaning could have been given to the poem if it is analyzed in a deeper way. Moreover the poetic devices that she uses make the poem very attractive for the reader and also easy to follow because of the musicality that her rhymes produced in the way it is read, as in the ones used in the verse 2: “That never wrote to Me”, compared to verse 4: “With tender Majesty”, where the endings have the same sound. (Dickinson, poem #441: This is my letter to the

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926 Words | 4 Pages

In “Because I Could Not Stop For Death”, Emily Dickinson uses imagery and symbols to establish the cycle of life and uses examples to establish the inevitability of death. This poem describes the speaker’s journey to the afterlife with death. Dickinson uses distinct images, such as a sunset, the horses’ heads, and the carriage ride to establish the cycle of life after death. Dickinson artfully uses symbols such as a child, a field of grain, and a sunset to establish the cycle of life and its different stages. Dickinson utilizes the example of the busyness of the speaker and the death of the sun to establish the inevitability of death.

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938 Words | 4 Pages

Emily Dickinson lived during a time when many would become very well acquainted with death. As such it would become a specter that was feared as it could make an appearance at any time. So looking at Dickinson 's work it seems rather interesting that taken as a collection there seems to be the tale of one character that comes to view death in a multitude of different ways throughout their life. First is the feared figure that leaves them restless, then death comes as something numbing but leaves the living to celebrate the life of the one that has passed, life as a story that is completed and finished upon death, and finally coming to see death as kind figure that takes one to a new home. this finally view is what paints death as something that is not to be feared but rather as something natural, it is the next

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The Transformation that Changes our Lives The poet Emily Dickinson in her poem, I Felt a Funeral in my Brain that is the first line of the poem, not a special title that Dickinson chose. It tells about the story of the experience of the speaker in the poem who is transforming from place to another. Many readers would take this poem as an explanation of what happens after death, what the dead body feels in the funeral.

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