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—
And then a Plank in Reason, broke,
And I dropped down, and down—
And hit a World, at every plunge,
And Finished knowing—then.
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To know Emily
From guest Kay (contact)
The most beautiful thing that I know no better what she means than those who write her factual historical biography. To trivialize this poem by saying she died, or that it is like a migrane is a complete dis-service to the the author. This is just one of the many poems where we see Emily's binocular vision. Here we see a poem that is well into her maturity as a poet and well into her chosen seclusion. Emily was familiar with death, but so as everyone at the time. It is a well coded glimpse into the psyche of the author but one that certainly must not be trivialized. -
Headache
This is exactly what I imagine is going on in my head at the time of a migraine, especially one caused by stress. Of course, I had more of a story going with a war, bombs, and ressurections as well. But it's almost eery how much the idea of a funeral as a headache is expressed here. Even though the poem was probably originally about something completely different. -
This is my favorite poem out of all of her poems. I feel as if she felt she was the one who had died and was being up to rest.
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Every time I read this poem I get chills, I love the way that she expressed what was going on at that moment. And the visual that was convaied here was amazing. It was this poem that got me into writting in the first place. I absolutly love it.
Kim
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