I felt a Funeral, in my Brain
Emily Dickinson, 1896
Emily Dickinson's poem describing a mental collapse as a funeral held inside the speaker's head.
I felt a funeral in my brain,And mourners, to and fro,Kept treading, treading, till it seemedThat sense was breaking through.
And when they all were seated,A service like a drumKept beating, beating, till I thoughtMy mind was going numb.
And then I heard them lift a box,And creak across my soulWith 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.