When I think of this theme in this poem I think of slaves stumbling as the walk, their feet shackled, a chain between them. This image is created with the use of the words ˜treading- treading' and ˜Boots of Lead' the heaviness of these words creates this image of enslavement. The force that is imprisoning her could be her depression, or, alternately, it could be her controlling and invasive religion. This can also been seen when she describes her funeral service to beat ˜like a drum', which seems to express how cold, ritualistic and removed from spiritual meaning she things her faith has become. The parishioners take religion for granted, it is merely a show, this is shown in the line ˜Mourners to and fro'. The capitalisation here is done in irony. In her faith there were often people paid to come and mourn at funerals, here she seems to reference this pretence at grief.
This theme of isolation can be seen in another part of the poem where a strong image ˜the heavens were a Bell' contrasts with her description of herself ˜Being, but an Ear' shows how trapped in herself she is, how everything outside of her is simply noise. These two contrasting images create a strange hypnagogic mood.
Dickinson's placement of herself in the setting of the poem is very controversial. She seems to analytically watch herself. ˜Then I heard them lift a Box'. Not only is this a freakish, it also creates mood of unease, reinforced in the next line ˜And creak across my Soul'. Her use of the word ˜creak' has a very sinister, unstable feeling. The word ˜across' in combination with ˜creak' creates the image of a floor; this is shown in another place ˜And then a Plank in Reason, broke' and suggests that she is using the floor as a metaphor for her soul, which is becoming very unstable, and will, ultimately , .
Mirroring the images of her sanity being crushed is the description of the events at the funeral playing out in each level of her consciousness.