A Funeral in my Brain [SSC8 Poetry Challenge]

Original poem "I felt a Funeral, in my Brain" by Emily Dickinson (1830–1886) Lyrical arrangement and music © Tess Thursday 2026 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 – [Added Chorus] Ring out the hollow bell, Toll me down where reason fell, The mourners walk and the candles burn low, Down and down is all I know Ring out, ring out the bell 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 – [Added Chorus] Ring out the hollow bell, Toll me down where reason fell, The mourners walk and the candles burn low, Down and down is all I know Ring out, ring out the bell And then a Plank in Reason, broke, And I dropped down, and down – And hit a World, at every plunge, And Finished knowing – then – [Added Outro] Down and down, the plank is broken, Down and down, no word is spoken, The bell has gone to silence now, The mourners gone I know not how Down and down and down