I felt a Funeral, in my Brain

I felt a Funeral, in my Brain
Emily Dickinson

The first stanza of this poem seems to suggest that the speaker is losing his mind. The funeral "in my Brain" implies that the speaker feels as though his ability to think has died. However, the speaker has not completely lost his mind yet because of the last phrase "That Sense was breaking through-" (Dickinson). In order for one to make sense of something, he must maintain some ability to think. The speaker continues his impression that he is losing his mind by stating that his "Mind was going numb" at the end of the second stanza (Dickinson). When a body part is numb, one struggles to use it properly. Numbness of the mind would suggest the speaker's inability to think properly. The speaker continues his path towards insanity by comparing his mind to space and isolation. The speaker felt isolated within his own mind, and felt lost by the empty space within his thoughts. The poem ends with the phrase "And Finished knowing-then-" (Dickinson). This implies that the speaker feels that he has completely lost his mind.