"I Felt a Funeral, in my Brain" by Emily Dickinson

I believe that the poem's central purpose is to showcase a person's insanity. The "Funeral in his Brain" symbolizes the inner war between a person and his mind. The "mourners" represent his conscience, hoping that he will make the right decision as how to find happiness. But the character cannot because "that Sense cannot break through." I also think that the "mourners" represent the person's heart. His heart is bleeding in the sense that he cannot find inner peace. This is why I think the "Drum" is referenced that "kept beating- beating" because the person's heart continues to beat, even though he is not alive mentally. I think that the abruptness at the end of the stanzas represents that the narrator cannot finish his thoughts because his mind is all over the place. The tone of the poem is stressed, frenzied, and negative. There is no hope for the person to get out of this mess. The "funeral" continues to keep getting worse. I just think the "funeral" as a whole symbolizes a person dying mentally, even though his body continues to be alive. And the "Boots of Lead" represent this person not being able to run away from his issue of insanity. It has corrupted his life entirely.

It's almost like there is no beginning or end, and it's like the narrator doesn't believe in her problem ending himself. I'm slightly confused by the random words capitalized, but I'm thinking the capitalized words are the actual symbols in the poem. The words "Heavens were a Bell" were well chosen because when we die, death tolls. This is like a bell ringing, or God signaling us to come His way. There are so many metaphors and symbols infused throughout to prove that the person is not actually insane; rather, he is clever in his analogies. They make sense. If he were insane, the poem would be confusing. But everything stands for something else, which just makes his case more valid for having a funeral in his brain. He is confused and haunted by his own thoughts, but they make sense to other people. He just has to come to terms with himself. It's tricky to interpret at first, but we just have to see life from a different perspective in order to have even insanity make sense.