Alienation Blog #1

I felt a Funeral, in my Brain by Emily Dickinson

Although this poem discusses a funeral, I believe it to be an extended metaphor for a loss of the mind. This metaphor is used to compare the mental state of the speaker to a funeral. This comparison reveals that the author is loosing her sanity and becoming mad. The use of the funeral dramatizes what is happening inside the speaker and allows for the author to express her feelings without clearly opening up to them. This metaphor allows for readers to better understand what the speaker is going through, even though they  personally may have not experienced her situation. The speaker states, "And then a Plank in Reason, broke, And I dropped down, and down," ( Dickinson, 776). This describes the speakers complete loss of mind, emphasizing that she has officially reached the bottom. The author has lost all reason and rationality once her plank of reason snaps and falls. Readers can feel the distance the speaker creates between what is happening and what she is feeling. No actually feelings are discussed in the funeral and no interactions are made between the funeral guest, yet through the metaphor created, readers can identify the deeper meaning.