Not with a club, the Heart is broken by Emily Dickinson
Analysis
In this poem, Dickinson speaks about what breaks hearts. It is "Not with a club [...] Nor with a stone;". Right away, she sets the scene for what we think is the answer: love. However, she surprises us with "A whip, so small you could not see it". She then calls her heart a "magic creature" which was lashed until it fell. Then, she personifies the whip, saying its "name too noble / Then to tell." Which suggests she does not wish to name the person she loved. She then changes pace, "Magnanimous of bird / By boy descried," a generous bird that the bird saw was "To sing unto the stone / Of which it died." The bird (the author), was singing (still talking happily) to the stone (the person who broke her heart who is cold-hearted) even though she died (had a broken heart).
Further analysis may be done, such as with the word "whip" which can mean something fast and harsh. Or with the word "noble" meaning she still respects him or, perhaps it is sarcastic since she compares him to a stone.
Johnson number: 1304
Poem
Not with a club, the Heart is broken Not with a club, the Heart is broken, Nor with a stone; A whip, so small you could not see it, I've known To lash the magic creature Till it fell, Yet that whip's name too noble Then to tell. Magnanimous of bird By boy descried, To sing unto the stone Of which it died.
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Nationality
American
Literary Movement
19th Century
Subjects
Broken Heart, Relationship