ShiffmanOutline1)Title Page2)Outline3)Emily Dickinson’s Portrayal of Deatha)“I felt a Funeral in my Brain”b)“I heard a Fly Buzz when I died” c) “My life closed twice before its close”d)Conclusion and analysis of Dickinson’s portrayal of death4) Bibliography“Emily Dickinson’s Poems about death grew out of her reactions to the tragic events in her personal life.” In three of her poems, her style of writing reflects her way of life. “I heard a Fly buzz when I died”, “My life closed twice before its close” and “I felt a Funeral in my brain” all reflect on Dickinson’s feelings and emotions towards death.In “I felt a funeral in my Brain”, Dickinson describes her own funeral in perfect detail. As if she is an observer of the service. As shown in the title of the poem, Dickinson seems to be feeling all of these emotions in her “brain” or so she states. “And when they all were seated. A Service, like a Drum-kept beating-beating-beating-till I thought My Mind was going numb.”2 Dickinson’s method of describing her funeral is shown is first person perspective after the tenth line of the poem. “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.” ”I heard a Fly buzz when I died” is Dickinson’s portrayal of her death and her surroundings at the time of her death. John McPhee sates that “Death and the thought of death influence our way of life and our daily action.” Dickinson was very dolorous after her father left her and she ostracized her self from society. She then coerced herself into feelings of suicide. In this poem, she bases her main idea around the element of a material object, which in this case, is the fly. “I heard a Fly buzz-when I died-The stillness in the Room W...
