Question

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— and then a plank in reason, broke, and i dropped down, and down— and hit a world, at every plunge, and finished knowing—then— —emily dickinson (1830 - 1886) questions 1. what senses are being evoked by the imagery? can you account for the fact that one important sense is absent from the poem? 2 in sequence, what aspects of a funeral and burial are represented in the poem? is it possible to define the sequence of mental events that are being compared to them? 3. with respect to the funeral activities in stanzas 1 - 3, where is the speaker imaginatively located? 4. what finally happens to the speaker? living in sin she had thought the studio would keep itself, no dust upon the furniture of love. half heresy, to wish the taps less vocal, the panes relieved of grime. a plate of pears, a piano with a persian shawl, a cat stalking the picturesque amusing mouse had risen at his urging. not that at five each separate stair would writhe under the milkmans tramp; that morning light so coldly would delineate the scraps of last nights cheese and three sepulchral bottles that on the kitchen shelf among the saucers a pair of beetle - eyes would fix her own— envoy from some village in the moldings meanwhile, he, with a yawn, sounded a dozen notes upon the keyboard.

Explanation:

1. The imagery in Emily Dickinson's poem evokes auditory sense ("Space - began to toll", "As all the Heavens were a Bell") and tactile - like sense of falling ("And I dropped down, and down"). The sense of sight is absent, possibly to create a more internal and abstract experience.
2. The poem may represent aspects of a funeral such as the tolling (like a death knell), and the mental sequence could be the speaker's descent into a state of losing consciousness or reason, similar to the finality of death.
3. In stanzas 1 - 3, the speaker seems to be in an abstract, internalized space, perhaps within their own mind as they experience the mental and auditory events related to the funeral - like imagery.
4. The speaker's "Plank in Reason" breaks, and they drop down, hitting worlds as they fall, and end up in a state of no - knowing, suggesting a loss of rational thought or a plunge into the unknown.

Answer:

1. Auditory and tactile senses are evoked. Sight is absent, likely for an internal focus.
2. Funeral aspects like tolling are represented. Mental sequence is loss of consciousness/ reason.
3. In an abstract, internal space.
4. The speaker loses reason and plunges into the unknown.