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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
Sentivo un funerale, nella mente, e i dolenti si aggiravano intorno, e ancora si aggiravano, fino a che ogni senso sembrò venisse meno. Poi quando tutti si furono seduti, una cerimonia che, simile a un tamburo, batteva e ribatteva - al punto che pensai che mi si stesse annebbiando la mente. Poi li sentii sollevare una bara, e penetrarmi, scricchiolando, l'anima ancora, e ancora, con stivali di piombo, poi lo spazio iniziò a rintoccare come se si fossero fatti campana tutti i cieli e la creazione nient'altro che un orecchio, Ed io, e il silenzio, una razza straniera qui naufragata in solitario esilio.
About the headline (FAQ)
Translation of the stanza added to the end in a later edition:
Poi si spezzò una trave, nella mia coscienza, e sentii sprofondarmi giù, e poi più giù ancora, ad ogni tuffo urtando contro un mondo, e nella conoscenza tutto ebbe fine - allora.
Text Authorship:
- Translation from English to Italian (Italiano) copyright © 2011 by Ferdinando Albeggiani, (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: 2011-09-09
Line count: 16
Word count: 102