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

During her life, poet Emily Dickinson was not one for social events. There is a singular known image of the poet and she lived most of her life inside of her house, out of touch with the rest of the world around her. Unlike Hester Prynne, Dickinson’s separation from civilization was of her own choosing. Her introversion is reflected in her work, as a lot of her poetry has to do with the isolation of person and the rest of society. It is not known whether Dickinson had depression or not, but from her works of poetry signs point to yes. The way Dickinson crafts her poems suggests her illness nags at her day and night, and how she is drowning in her sorrow, arms open, waiting for help without ever explicitly saying that depression is ruling her life. In her poem, I felt a funeral, in my brain, Dickinson uses metaphors and imagery to communicate the feelings of one experiencing the paralyzing effects of depression. Dickinson’s I felt a Funeral, in my Brain, is filled with metaphors offering insight into the fading brain of a person suffering with depression. A successful metaphor takes two unlike objects or ideas and draws a connection so that the audience can have a better understanding of the text and meaning of the words on the page. Dickinson relates dreamlike elements to humans and their surroundings, specifically, “And then I heard them lift a Box [casket] / And creak across my Soul,” (9-10). Although it was
In the title line, the experience is quickly given to the reader, as feeling “...a Funeral, in my Brain,” (1), meaning that as a living, conscious person, a depressed being at times feels that inside his or her own brain, there is a funeral being held to commemorate the failed attempts at living life to the fullest. These funerals are the realization that yet again, they are being engulfed with