How many ways can we say the thing that utters the essence of the broken heart?
There are ongoing psychological studies of how the heart literally tells its own story. People who have received hearts from donors who begin to have dreams of past lives they've never known--at least in their current bodies.
The heart does speak.
And, when it's broken, it sings a ghostly dirge.
How else do we say it? My heart's broken in two--torn in two--split in two--....
How do you mend a broken heart?
How else do we say this? Is it simply the ONLY word that conveys this kind of division, this split, this gap...?
And, if this is the only word (so physical) that conveys the emotion, why? Why is that?
Anyway, on the lookout for synonymous suggestions here.
Still beating regards,
WW (Wynadotte according to the Spellchecker girl)
Never an adolescent escaped heartbreak from having chosen blindly. Several times. Only time can heal by bringing the beginnings of wisdom.
thanks a lot, wordwitch; now I've got this stupid Bee Gees song stuck in my head...
http://www.superseventies.com/sl_howcanyoumend.htmlp.s. - you done tore out my heart and stomped that sucker flat!
"you done tore out my heart and stomped that sucker flat!"
It is a stupid line. The heart does not suck, it pumps.
Alas, there are so many stupid lines. The stupider, the better the adolescents like them.
Dr. Bill-- i don't think i will ever get old enough or mature enough to be able to insulate myself from a broken heart-- the only way i know how to do it, it to isolate myself, and to stop caring about other..
all relationships end in sorrow.. because all relationships end. none of us are immortal, and i would be very depressed if i thought, at my death, no one was broken hearted, no one would feel torn asunder..
sometimes, you play the lecherous old curmungeon, and we rise up, and rant and rave, but do you doubt that many here consider you a friend? that even though we haven't met you, we care for you?
i can't begin to tell how how heartwarming it was, to come home on Sept 11, and find so many post, expressing concern for me. for the most part, everyone here is stranger to me.. but i feel loved here.
and as long as i continue to love, i continue to be open to heartbreak.
Dear tsuwm,
Done tore your heart out and stomped the sucker flat? Did you write that? Or the Bee Gees?
Here's a bit from those lyrics spinning cosmically in your head: bad lyrics alert!
How can you stop the rain from falling down?
How can you stop the sun from shining
What makes the world go round?
Don't 'cha think that the question about the world going around is a bit stupid following those "How" questions? That kind of thing really bugs me. It's like they're stretching, stretching, and, finally, they just stick the bugger in to finish out the line.
Best regards to tsuwm, little flattened sucker and all,
Word(well...)Witch
Your heart doesn't actually break it just tears a little and when it heals, it can come back bigger and stronger than before, but when you hide it away for fear it will be torn again thats when it can wither,if your lucky enough to get another chance you've got to climb back on the horse
the Duncster
Here is a fact
That should help you to fight
A bit longer:
Things that don't act-
ually kill you outright
Make you stronger.
-----Piet Hein
Dear of troy: Not applicable to you, quite possibly, but the biggest cause of heartbreak is forgetting the advice of Ben Franklin to have one's eyes wide open before matrimony, and then keeping them half shut.
I had no grounds for thinking myself entitled to perfection. If my wife had been perfect,the contrast would have made me very uncomfortable.I would never do anything to hurt the kids or lose them
In any event, better to have loved and lost, rather than never to have loved at all.
you done tore out my heart and stomped that sucker flat!First, DubDub, I don't think these words are original to tsuwm--they are the exemplification of why I can't stand country music.
Second, I THINK the line, "What makes the world go 'round?" is there because of the answer to the question. That is, love is what makes our hearts feel whole or broken.
Dr. Bill, that was sound advice indeed--thank you. And I most definitely think of you as a friend.
Why DO we say our heart is broken? I seem to recall reading somewhere ages ago, that different cultures have different sayings for this phenomenon. Possibly one of them involved the stomach. Max and wow, got any Maori or Hawaiian for us? Wsieber, how about where you live, and Bingley, when you get back, what do they say in Indonesia?Emanuela, what do you-all say in Italy when you lose someone you love (about how you feel, I mean--not what sorts of names to call him!
)?
Dear Jackie,
Thanks for explicating the Bee Gees' lyrics! You done good there, and there agin with tsuwm's take of kuntry music.
Best regards,
Dub
"love is what makes our hearts feel whole or broken"
THANK YOU
what a beautifull thing to say
the Duncster
what a beautifull thing to say 
You're welcome--but I wasn't trying to make any deep philosophical statement or anything; just calling 'em as I see 'em, really.
Your previous post leads me to think you may have some experience in the realm of broken hearts. If so, sympathies. I loved what you said--it does make us stronger, in the end. Forged iron and all that. I guess there's no getting around it, if we live, truly live, at all.
"Where some have found their paradise
Others just come to harm
Amelia, it was just a false alarm
I wish that he was here tonight
It's so hard to obey
His sad request of me to kindly stay away
.....
Dreams, Amelia, dreams and false alarms"
There is more aching heart in these lines than initially meets the eye.
In reply to:
for the most part, everyone here is stranger to me .. but i feel loved here. and as long as i continue to love, i continue to be open to heartbreak.
Helen has put her finger on a great mystery explained centuries ago by St. Francis of Assisi, when he said, "... It is in loving that we are loved ..."
Dear Max,
Care to spell out the pronunciations of both ngaakau maaru and ngaakau pakaru?
They both touch my heart, but I want to make sure here that I'm listening to them correctly.
Thanks,
WW
It isn't just the heart that's been thought of as the seat of passion/compassion/charity. Remember Promethius? He had his liver plucked out by birds for his love of humankind.
A couple of posts reminded me of my favorite piece of Kiddie Lit, THE LITTLE PRINCE, by St-Exupery. WW et al, if you haven't read it, you haven't read THE DEFINITIVE love story!
Dear Geoff,
I read The Little Prince years and years ago, and have completely forgotten it. There is no memory of it in my brain--other than a few wisps of Gene ? having done a movie about it, and that's pretty much gone, too. It's curious to observe which works of literature grow like lichen on your brain, and which ones simply disappear altogether for whatever reasons.
Wonder whether the little prince is online?
Best regards,
WW
read The Little Prince years and years ago, and have completely forgotten it. There is no memory of it in my
brain--other than a few wisps of Gene ? having done a movie about it, and that's pretty much gone, too.
Gene Wilder. The movie isn't anywhere near up to the book. Please do reread it, and I think you'll see what I mean.
"It is only with the heart that one sees clearly. What is essential is invisible to the eyes." St-Exupery
On-line? Maybe, but a used copy goes for three bucks down at Powell's books. It's worth it!
The heart has words the lips can never shape.
People who have received hearts from donors who begin to have dreams of past lives they've never known--at least in their current bodies.
Surely this is a myth, Wordwind, not science. The heart has nothing to do with either memories or emotions. The "heart" is located within specific areas of the brain, as brain scans now illustrate. Fear of an alien heart implanted in one's own body, hardly an everyday experience, could easily provoke vivid imaginings which are interpreted as alien "memories", doncha think?
WW asserts, "The heart does speak." Well, not perhaps directly, but certainly it inspires speech. Somewhere in the Old Testament, I think in one of the Wisdom books (too lazy to look for it for you), is the verse, "Out of the fullness of the heart doth the mouth speak."
The heart is in the head.
You are right Plutarch, but so are ten thousand poets and Bobtyoungbalt who know that love transcends mere reality. To the person who is experiencing a "broken heart" the effect is all-comsuming and all-pervasive. There is no positional location. It is, in effect, the universe.
The concept of a "broken heart", while not absolutely cross cultural, has enough Jungian qualities to travel well, witness below...
My heart have been broken, and all my love's in vain.
but the peoples always told me, that a woman is the glory of a man.
You whip her when she needs it, the judge will not let you explain. because he believes in justice and a woman is the glory of a man.
I rather be tired out on the desert, or right out, in the falling rain, than to lose my baby, cause she is, the glory of a man. Sonny Boy Williamson 1952.
Dear Milum,
Thanks for providing Sonny Boy Williamson's lines. I like the repetition there of motif, by the way. That hearkens back to the repetitive nature of the beating of the heart, and I'm glad you provided the author so I wouldn't go off thinking that the lines are from a Gilbert and Sullivan musical, not that I would, you know!
Beat regards,
WordWrecker
Goodness gracious Wordwrecker,
Do you wear your heart on your sleeve? You are not Wordperfect.
I am...
sincerely yours,
Milum.
"Where is fancy bred, in the heart, or in the head?" No matter what poets say, it is in the head.
"The heart has its reasons that reason itself can never understand."
Blaise Pascal, scientist (Yeah, well, he was French, so maybe that explains it!)
Well, if the heart's in the head, it makes it much easier to rip it out and stomp that sucker flat, no?
Has anybody mentioned that the reason the heart's seen as the centre of emotion is that strong emotion makes the heart beat more/harder or something? I'm sure that it has to do with endorphines or enzymes or little green men with hammers or something. Our medical members can probably give a more rational and reasoned explanation.
i can't offer any clever alternatives for "brokenhearted" well, except for the obvious: that it totally sucks, [whiter-thanksF]and if your reason for posting this was at all *from the heart, you have my heartfelt wishes for a speedy recovery[/whiter] but it does remind me of one of my favorite weird words: anacampserote (YCLIU)
what Mrs. B. neglected to tell us on this one is that anacampserote is an herb, whose touch was reputed to restore departed love.
... and if *that doesn't work, you just roll it up and smoke it, then you don't give a hoot about him.
alas, it's a temporary fix, thoughjim, is anacampserote in the OED? what's the etymology? any relation to anacamptic? is there some kind of narcissus connection, maybe?
strong emotion makes the heart beat more/harder... with endorphins or enzymes or...
Close enough. It's epinephrine, a.k.a. Adrenalin, and various other activators of the Sympathetic Nervous System, giving rise to what's more commonly known as the "fight-flight-or-fright reaction." (I leave it to the reader to decide which one it is when you see your heart's desire.) The heart pounds and races, the nostrils flare, eyes dilate, blood vessels constrict, pressure rises, and a host of more subtle effects also take place, and the body is ready for action of whatever kind. The effect is diminished by the "beta-blockers" such as Lopressor and Inderal and Toprol and Corgard and atenolol and several other names besides. Take heed, all ye high blood pressure and angina sufferers.
Officially it isn't called "Adrenalin" these days, mainly because decades ago some pharmaceutical outfit copyrighted the scientific name and got the medical community so up in arms over the sheer effrontery that they went and translated it from Latin to Greek {Adrenalin = ad + renal = the gland above the kidney = epi + nephros = epinephrine, its modern name} so's Not to Use That Name any more. That showed 'em!
Now aren't you glad you asked?
jim, is anacampserote in the OED? what's the etymology? any relation to anacamptic? is there some kind of narcissus connection, maybe?[/blur]
yes. it comes from Greek roots meaning 'to bend back' + 'love'. anacamptic comes from the same 'to bend back' root, but mainly relates to sound. narcissus is connected in the same way that Pliny is connected to Plutarch.
-jim beam