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“I felt a Funeral, in my Brain” is a poem by the American poet Emily Dickinson. Although not published until the 1890s, Dickinson likely wrote this poem in 1861, at the beginning of her most generative period. Like many of Dickinson’s poems, this one centers the theme of death. But it does so through the rather strange conceit of an abstract funeral that’s taking place in the speaker’s brain. As such, it isn’t clear who—if anyone—has died. This lack of clarity allows Dickinson to explore the disorienting power of grief in the face of an indifferent universe.

Read a summary & analysis, an analysis of the speaker, and explanations of important quotes from “Annabel Lee.”

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