I felt a Funeral, in my Brain

I found myself excited to read this poem. After looking at the title, for some reason it interested me.


While studying this poem, I found a lot of imagery. However, after reading the poem a second time, I realized that all of the imagery had to do with hearing and there was no sight involved. With sight usually being the most prevalent sense expressed in imagery in poems, I knew the author had to have a specific purpose for excluding it. The lines of imagery "like a Drum-kept beating" and "mourners to and fro kept treading" allowed me to visualize what was taking place: a funeral. I think the author excluded the sense of sight because the speaker is the participant in the funeral. He or she is being buried, hence "and then I heard them lift a Box". Also, the funeral is taking place inside of her/his brain; therefore, she/he can't see what is taking place. The speaker is going insane, "and then a Plank in Reason, broke" and feels like a part of her/his soul is dying. The author's use of the imagery of sound allows the reader to understand where the speaker is coming from.