i felt a funeral in my brain (dickinson)

Question 1

speaker references mourning, numbness and a loss of control

Question 2

poem is depiction of despair. speaker presents no explanation or solution

Question 3

poem tracks despair from its onset to the darkest abyss of isolation

Question 4

central metaphor of funeral in brain establishes speakers state of mjnd

Question 5

speakers brain contains “Funeral” and “Mourners”. smthn has died within speaker and their mind mourns that loss

Question 6

rather than giving specific cause for this feeling, let’s it remain ambiguous. despair becomes a mysterious phenomenon without a clear issue

Question 7

mourners sit for a service and carry a “Box” (coffin) through speaker

Question 8

suggests that despair can feel like a funeral procession for an unknown person. created anonymity and confusion

Question 9

by these proceedings taking up 3 stanzas, funeral depicts how despair can feel never ending, always finding new ways to make one’s life bleaket

Question 10

evokes despair through physical metaphors

Question 11

funerals drum like “beating - beating -“ along with the mourners heavy “treading - treading - “ affect the mind as if striking it
they cause mind to go “numb”

Question 12

just as repeated pounding can cause skin to lose sensation, so can the speakers inner bleakness prevent the mind from thinking or feeling

Question 13

the mourners feet become “Boots of Lead”. speaker feels increased heaviness inside. because of this, soul can only “creak” mournfully

Question 14

all this beating and heaviness causes smthn to snap in final stanza “then a plank in Reason, broke”

Question 15

speaker loses hold of certainty and falls completely into an abyss “And I dropped down and down”

Question 16

speakers mind repeatedly gets “hit” this time by the multitude of “World[s]” that populate the universe, until reaching a final numbness

Question 17

that physicality is combined with sense of loneliness and being trapped in the mind

Question 18

that loneliness stems from a dawning awareness of the enormity of universe

Question 19

speaker is “Wrecked, solitary, here.”
“Here” can be seen representing the inescapable isolation of the self, how each person is trapped within the “here” of their own minds

Question 20

immensity of universe whose “Heavens” blare loudly like bells and whose plunging depths contain an unending series of alternate “Worlds” dwarfs the speaker

Question 21

by end of poem, even mysterious “Mourners” have disappeared, leaving speaker to fall down into abyss totally alone

Question 22

poem represent despair as a force that beats mind into numbness, heightens effects of loneliness and throws speaker down a pit of isolation

Question 23

as poem progresses speaker undergoes increasingly broad visions of workd

Question 24

reason- the ability to find order and meaning in the world - is seen as a human invention that the unknowable universe beats down

Question 25

speaker loses “Sense” specifically because speaker is exposed to the senseless universe

Question 26

sound from the creaking of soul and stomping of “Boots of Lead” transforms into the “toll” of the entirety of “Space”

Question 27

this moments seamlessly transforms the inner world “the soul” into the outer world “Space”

Question 28

“Toll” here references the ringing of a bell

Question 29

as if whole world even it’s empty spaces has suddenly filled with mysterious sound with unknown source

Question 30

can be read as moment of confrontation between speaker and terrifying godlike force as her poems usually speculate existence of god

Question 31

speaker speculated the minds place in the universe. “Being” is “but an Ear.”

Question 32

existence becomes passive

Question 33

speaker has come to a new understanding of what it means so be human

Question 34

speaker becomes “some strange Race” that exists along with silence, as the means by which the universe makes itself known

Question 35

implicitly compared speakers mind to a building at beginning, that buildings collapse represent the collapse of order and reason

Question 36

a “Plank in Reason, broke” the floorboards of the mind finally snap

Question 37

associate these boards with “Reason”, the speaker treats rationality as a man made structure that can be broken

Question 38

universe actively works to destroy rational rules created by people

Question 39

the universe is an abyss contains “a World, at every plunge.” the world contains many worlds, or infinite possibilities

Question 40

speaker bangs against these “worlds” without being able to grasp any of them

Question 41

this exposure provides an overwhelming glimpse of universes mystery and complexity

Question 42

universe is irrational and unknowable to human beings

Question 43

it’s this awareness that ironically causes the speaker to be “Finished knowing” altogether

Question 44

enjambent

Answer 44

constraints use of dashes and caesuras with enjambent
created irregular structure that reflects the madness speaker experienfes

Question 45

imagery (mourners)

Answer 45

seems to torment her. their “treading - treading -“ in “Boots of Lead” creates an image of heaviness that weights down the speaker as she loses sense

Question 46

imagery (coffin)

Answer 46

used to show the speakers mental state. is referred to a “Box” that the mourners carry across her soul. what’s inside is never states
represents isolation and confusion speaker feels as everyone knows what’s in the box except her

Question 47

metaphor

Answer 47

funeral is metaphor for speakers loss of self and sanity. “I felt a Funeral, in my Brain” shoes the events occur within speakers mind
funeral can’t be real so it’s a metaphor for death of the mind the speaker feels

Question 48

repitition

Answer 48

signifies time becoming slower as funeral progresses. “treading” snd “beating” is repeated and slows the poems rhythm down and reflects how life feels slower for speaker since funeral began

Question 49

caesuras

Answer 49

pauses represent the breaks that are forming in speakers mind as her mind becomes fractured so does the poem
final dash at end “- then - “ shows that the madness speaker feels will continue

Question 50

depicts terror and helplessness that accompany losing one’s grip on reality

Question 51

“Funeral” in opening line is reference to death of speakers reason or sanity

Question 52

“Mourners” repetitively tread through mind, their steps wear down whatever is holding “Sense” back

Question 53

speaker waits for “Sense” to come “breaking through” — basically for meaning and reason to retirn

Question 54

sense doesn’t return, mind goes “numb” as response of drum-like “beating” of funeral service

Question 55

this “funeral” hammers home knowledge that their knowledge is collapsing

Question 56

mourners carry “Box” maybe a coffin containing speakers reason- as the speaker is left “Wrecked, solitary, here” in an unfamiliar place

Question 57

initial conceit of a funeral in the brain gives an elaborate vision of the minds structure being full of mysterious inaccessible elements

Question 58

first stanza basically asks reader to imagine speakers mind as 2 floor structure

Question 59

speaker has partial access to this structure, listening from below to the funeral on the second floor

Question 60

proceedings of funeral are secret and hard to perceived they’re “felt” and “heard” but not seen

Question 61

the service doesn’t contain any words, rather it beats “like a Drum.”