The Funeral

The action of this poem presumably takes place mostly within a funeral, as it is entitled "Funeral Blues." The funeral, as a collective occasion of grieving and mourning, suits the speaker’s purpose of lamenting the loss of his beloved. In the poem, the most obvious indication that a funeral is underway is in the first stanza: “Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come” (4). Yet, the fact that the speaker has to call for the coffin to be brought out and for the mourners to come also suggests that the funeral has not commenced; the speaker is perhaps preparing for a funeral to come, and is still trapped deeply within his own sadness. The poem therefore establishes a contrast between public markers of death and the inexpressible private feelings that one must cope with internally.

The Speaker's House

When the poem begins, the speaker is likely...