Notes: I felt a Funeral, in my Brain Flashcards
What is this poem an extended metaphor for?
She uses the funeral as an extended metaphor for mental breakdown or psychological death.
The rituals and paraphernalia of a funeral act as a metaphor for mental breakdown to convey death/end of sanity .
What sense is vital here?
The sense of hearing is vital to the poem
“I felt a funeral, in my brain”
Explain the effect of the opening line
A really original and unique concept set in a startling location.
“Kept treading-treading-till it seemed”
What is the importance of this?
‘Seemed’ conveys that the experience is not fully understood
‘treading, treading’: A sense of tension and restlessness is building
What do the sounds of the funeral service mirror?
The “A Service, like a Drum- Kept beating-beating-“ mirror her internal turmoil.
The sounds of the drum can represent the pressures which can bring about mental collapse.
“My Mind was going numb-“
There is unrelenting tension
“I heard them lift a Box”
This chilling concept of being aware of what’s happening from within the coffin.
“Then Space-began to toll,”
An unknown space presents itself
What is the importance of the bell in stanza four?
The bell imagery continues. her entire self awareness is reduced to hearing; all other senses are obliterated.
“And I, and Silence, some strange Race”
What does ‘silence’ suggest?
The silence suggests how alone she is.
Comment on the setting of this poem.
The setting has a nightmarish quality.
When is the moment of crisis? (quote)
Explain further.
“And then a Plank in Reason, broke,”
In the moment of crisis, this stanza describes extreme mental pressure, the mind breaking into the emptiness of insanity (the end of her intellectual power/neurosis)
Comment on the final stanza and the endings meaning.
Here is the final descent into neurosis.
The ending is characteristically ambiguous.
1. The end of reason/knowledge.
2. The final moment brought awareness/insight. Finished up with knowledge.
How does ‘soul’ add to the poem?
It adds a spiritual dimension to it
How come the ending is interpretational?
Due to the dash. It subtly suggests that perhaps there is hope of recovery for the poet and leaves the reader in suspense and ambiguity about the future.
