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I felt a funeral in my brain, And mourners, to and fro, Kept treading, treading, till it seemed That sense was breaking through. And when they all were seated, A service like a drum Kept beating, beating, till I thought My mind was going numb. And then I heard them lift a box, And creak across my soul With those same boots of lead, again. Then space began to toll As all the heavens were a bell, And Being but an ear, And I and silence some strange race, Wrecked, solitary, here.
A. Copland sets stanzas 1-4
About the headline (FAQ)
Confirmed with Poems by Emily Dickinson. Third Series, ed by Mabel Loomis Todd, Boston: Roberts Brothers, 1896.
Note: a later edition removes the word "again" from stanza 3, line 3 and adds the following stanza to the end:
And then a plank in reason, broke, And I dropped down and down — And hit a world at every plunge, And finished knowing — then —
Text Authorship:
- by Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886), no title, appears in Poems: Third Series, in 4. Time and Eternity, no. 30, first published 1896 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Ernst Bacon (1898 - 1990), "Treading", 196-? [sung text not yet checked]
- by Alison Bauld (b. 1944), "I Felt a Funeral in My Brain", first performed 2024 [ soprano and piano ], from I Shall Not Live in Vain, no. 5 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Aaron Copland (1900 - 1990), "I felt a funeral in my brain", 1949-50, stanzas 1-4 [ mezzo-soprano, piano ], from Twelve Poems of Emily Dickinson, no. 9 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Misty L. Dupuis (b. 1972), "I Felt a Funeral in My Brain" [ soprano and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Michael M. Horvit (b. 1932), "I felt a funeral in my brain", published 1970 [ soprano and piano ], from Three Songs of Elegy [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "Vaig sentir un funeral al meu cap", copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) (Walter A. Aue) , copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 16
Word count: 92
J'ai senti un enterrement dans ma tête Et les amis du défunt allaient et venaient Continuaient à marcher, jusqu'à ce qu'il me semble Que ma raison s'en allait. Et quand ils s'étaient tous assis Un office comme un tambour Continuer de battre, de battre jusqu'à ce que je pense Que mon esprit devenait paralysé. Et puis je les ai entendus soulever une boîte Et traverser mon âme en grinçant Avec encore ces mêmes bottes de plomb Puis l'espace a sonné le glas Comme si tous les cieux étaient une cloche Et l'existence n'était qu'une oreille Et moi et le silence une étrange race Échouée solitaire ici.
About the headline (FAQ)
Translation of the stanza added to the end in a later edition:
Et puis une planche dans ma raison se brisa Et je tombai, tombai -- Et heurtai un monde, à chaque plongée, Et finis d'être consciente -- alors --
Text Authorship:
- Translation from English to French (Français) copyright © 2008 by Guy Laffaille, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net
Based on:
- a text in English by Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886), no title, appears in Poems: Third Series, in 4. Time and Eternity, no. 30, first published 1896
This text was added to the website: 2008-11-09
Line count: 16
Word count: 106