Death & Dying

I felt a funeral in my brain

by Emily Dickinson 1830–1886

Death & Dying

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.

MLA

Dickinson, Emily. “I felt a funeral in my brain.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/dickinson/416/.

Chicago

Dickinson, Emily. “I felt a funeral in my brain.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/dickinson/416/.

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