Songs

I felt a funeral in my brain

by Aaron Copland From Twelve Poems of Emily Dickinson (1950)

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Text

I felt a funeral in my brain
English source: Emily Dickinson

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.

Composer

Aaron Copland

Aaron Copland was an American composer, composition teacher, writer, and conductor. Read more here.

Poet

Emily Dickinson

Emily Elizabeth Dickinson (December 10, 1830 – May 15, 1886) was an American poet. Dickinson was born in Amherst, Massachusetts, into a prominent family with strong ties to its community. After studying at the Amherst Academy for seven years in her…

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