--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Let me hold your heart like a flower lest…" description: "\"“Let me hold your heart like a flower lest it bloom and collapse.”\" — Anne Sexton" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6fe/anne-sexton-645_flower_let-me-hold-your-heart-like-a-flower-les_2922081.png" --- # Let me hold your heart like a flower lest it bloom and… ![“Let me hold your heart like a flower lest it bloom and collapse.” quote by Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6fe/anne-sexton-645_flower_let-me-hold-your-heart-like-a-flower-les_2922081.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6fe/anne-sexton-645_flower_let-me-hold-your-heart-like-a-flower-les_2922081.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6fe/anne-sexton-645_flower_let-me-hold-your-heart-like-a-flower-les_2922081.png) > ““Let me hold your heart like a flower lest it bloom and collapse.”” [Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Love is fragile; holding it too tightly can cause it to with. **In simple terms:** Love needs gentle care. Key Takeaway Treat love with tenderness. Themes love fragility care Mood melancholic introspective Type poetic philosophical When to use this quote - romantic relationships - self‑care - artistic expression Key Concepts emotional vulnerability poetry Questions to Reflect On - What does it mean to hold love gently? - How can you protect love without suffocating it? A Different Perspective Overprotectiveness can stifle growth. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bloom Collapse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bloom-collapse-3988625/) [Flower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flower/) [Flower Lest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flower-lest-4262262/) [Gardening](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gardening/) [Heart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heart/) [Heart Like](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heart-like/) [Hold Heart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hold-heart/) [Like Flower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/like-flower/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) ## Related quotes > [I have no connections here; only gusty collisions, rootless seedlings forced into bloom, that collapse. ... I am the Visiting Poet: a real unicorn,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marge-piercy/i-have-no-connections-here-only-gusty-collisions-rootless-seedlings/) [Marge Piercy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marge-piercy/) > [The heart is like a flower. Unless it is open, it cannot release its fragrance into the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/the-heart-is-like-a-flower-unless-it-is-open-it-cannot-release-its/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [Each child is like a flower in your garden. Everyone takes different sunlight, different type of soil, different love, pruning care.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eva-marcille/each-child-is-like-a-flower-in-your-garden-everyone-takes-different/) [Eva Marcille](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eva-marcille/) > [“Like the flower the bee must also die”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/like-the-flower-the-bee-must-also-die/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Love is like a flower - you've got to let it grow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lennon/love-is-like-a-flower-you-ve-got-to-let-it-grow/) [John Lennon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lennon/) > [Life is like a flower until it destory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felicia/life-is-like-a-flower-until-it-destory/) [Felicia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felicia/) > [“From the Garden” Come, my beloved, consider the lilies. We are of little faith. We talk too much. Put your mouthful of words away…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/from-the-garden-come-my-beloved-consider-the-lilies-we-are-of-little/) [Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/) > [Extinguish my eyes, I'll go on seeing you. Seal my ears, I'll go on hearing you. 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With his bare hands he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-wallace/i-once-had-a-lover-and-his-arms-were-so-strong-that-my-skull-was/) [Naomi Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-wallace/) > [My crime is falling in love with you so deeply and passion ly . laying on my thinking of us is all I think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/courtney-hood/my-crime-is-falling-in-love-with-you-so-deeply-and-passion-ly-laying/) [Courtney Hood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/courtney-hood/) > [“Izzy, from the first moment our eyes met, I knew you would be mine forever. There wasn't a day that passed you didn't hold…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harper-sloan/izzy-from-the-first-moment-our-eyes-met-i-knew-you-would-be-mine/) [Harper Sloan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harper-sloan/) > [I have tried to resign myself, and to console myself; and that, I hope, I may have done imperfectly; but what I cannot firmly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/i-have-tried-to-resign-myself-and-to-console-myself-and-that-i-hope-i/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) ## More by Anne Sexton > [Blind with love, my daughter has cried nightly for horses, those long-necked marchers and churners that she has mastered, any and all, reigning them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/blind-with-love-my-daughter-has-cried-nightly-for-horses-those-long/) [Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/) > [I am crazy as hell, but I know it. And knowing it is a kind of sanity that makes the sickness worse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/i-am-crazy-as-hell-but-i-know-it-and-knowing-it-is-a-kind-of-sanity/) [Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/) > [And what of the dead? They lie without shoes in the stone boats. They are more like stone than the sea would be if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/and-what-of-the-dead-they-lie-without-shoes-in-the-stone-boats-they/) [Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/) > [The Witch's Life" When I was a child there was an old woman in our neighborhood whom we called The Witch. All day she…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/the-witch-s-life-when-i-was-a-child-there-was-an-old-woman-in-our/) [Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/) > [I have forgiven all the old actors for dying. A new one comes on with the same lines, like large white growths, in his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/i-have-forgiven-all-the-old-actors-for-dying-a-new-one-comes-on-with/) [Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/) > [“From the Garden” Come, my beloved, consider the lilies. We are of little faith. We talk too much. Put your mouthful of words away…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/from-the-garden-come-my-beloved-consider-the-lilies-we-are-of-little/) [Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/) > [Oh thumb, I want a drink it is dark, where are the big people, when will I get there...?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/oh-thumb-i-want-a-drink-it-is-dark-where-are-the-big-people-when-will/) [Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/) > [I want to kiss God on His nose and watch Him sneeze and so do you. Not out of disrespect. Out of pique. Out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/i-want-to-kiss-god-on-his-nose-and-watch-him-sneeze-and-so-do-you-not/) [Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/) > [I, in my brand new body, which was not a woman's yet, told the stars my questions and thought God could really see the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/i-in-my-brand-new-body-which-was-not-a-woman-s-yet-told-the-stars-my/) [Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/) > [Father, you died once, salted down at fifty-nine, packed down like a big snow angel, wasn't that enough?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/father-you-died-once-salted-down-at-fifty-nine-packed-down-like-a-big/) [Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/) > [When I'm writing, I know I'm doing the thing I was born to do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/when-i-m-writing-i-know-i-m-doing-the-thing-i-was-born-to-do/) [Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/) > [Cinderella and the prince lived, they say, happily ever after, like two dolls in a museum case never bothered by diapers or dust, never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/cinderella-and-the-prince-lived-they-say-happily-ever-after-like-two/) [Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/) > [“Quite collected at cocktail parties, meanwhile in my head I'm undergoing open-heart surgery.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/quite-collected-at-cocktail-parties-meanwhile-in-my-head-i-m/) [Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/) > [I cannot walk an inch / without trying to walk to God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/i-cannot-walk-an-inch-without-trying-to-walk-to-god/) [Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/) > [Now that I have written many words, and let out so many loves, for so many, and been altogether what I always was a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/now-that-i-have-written-many-words-and-let-out-so-many-loves-for-so/) [Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/) [Explore all 428 Anne Sexton quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/) ## More Flower quotes > [“It is not the force of the wind, but the depth of the roots.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-d-lounsbrough/it-is-not-the-force-of-the-wind-but-the-depth-of-the-roots/) [Craig D. Lounsbrough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-d-lounsbrough/) > [A Light exists in Spring Not present on the Year At any other period - When March is scarcely here A Color stands abroad…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-dickinson/a-light-exists-in-spring-not-present-on-the-year-at-any-other-period/) [Emily Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-dickinson/) > [Set NOT your hearts on the flowers of this world. They shall fade and die. Prize the Rose of Sharon and the Lily of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/set-not-your-hearts-on-the-flowers-of-this-world-they-shall-fade-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Most girls get flowers or candy. I get a declaration of martial law.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-shearin/most-girls-get-flowers-or-candy-i-get-a-declaration-of-martial-law/) [Lisa Shearin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-shearin/) > [One of the deepest and strangest of all human moods is the mood which will suddenly strike us perhaps in a garden at night,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/one-of-the-deepest-and-strangest-of-all-human-moods-is-the-mood-which/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Spring training means flowers, people coming outdoors, sunshine, optimism and baseball. Spring training is a time to think about being young again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernie-banks/spring-training-means-flowers-people-coming-outdoors-sunshine/) [Ernie Banks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernie-banks/) > [Sometimes, sometimes it is really difficult to turn and walk away from someone you have loved and cherished for so long. You know deep…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-kreger/sometimes-sometimes-it-is-really-difficult-to-turn-and-walk-away-from/) [David Kreger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-kreger/) > [This, at last, was where things were as they ought to be. Everything was in its place -- the tree, the earth underneath, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-liedloff/this-at-last-was-where-things-were-as-they-ought-to-be-everything-was/) [Jean Liedloff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-liedloff/) > [A garden has a curious innocent way of consuming cash while all the time you are under the illusion that you are spending nothing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/esther-meynell/a-garden-has-a-curious-innocent-way-of-consuming-cash-while-all-the/) [Esther Meynell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/esther-meynell/) > [My days – the blossom of my youth and the flower of my manhood – have been darkened by the dreariness of servitude. In…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-o-connell/my-days-the-blossom-of-my-youth-and-the-flower-of-my-manhood-have/) [Daniel O'Connell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-o-connell/) > [My life is a crystal teardrop. There are snowflakes falling in the teardrop and little figures trudging in slow motion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-baez/my-life-is-a-crystal-teardrop-there-are-snowflakes-falling-in-the/) [Joan Baez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-baez/) > [“But any picture could deal with the problem of light. The problem with this picture is greater than that of reflective surfaces - it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/whitney-otto/but-any-picture-could-deal-with-the-problem-of-light-the-problem-with/) [Whitney Otto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/whitney-otto/) > [“I promise to respect and protect your aloneness, knowing that everything created must have its period of darkness: child and bulb, poem and personality.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-morrow-lindbergh/i-promise-to-respect-and-protect-your-aloneness-knowing-that/) [anne morrow lindbergh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-morrow-lindbergh/) > [Sometimes it's about less is more. It's about the seed. Thinking about this gigantic tree that you think is so beautiful but it started…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-durst/sometimes-it-s-about-less-is-more-it-s-about-the-seed-thinking-about/) [Fred Durst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-durst/) > [There are two kinds of beauty; there is a beauty which God gives at birth, and which withers as a flower. And there is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-kuyper/there-are-two-kinds-of-beauty-there-is-a-beauty-which-god-gives-at/) [Abraham Kuyper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-kuyper/) [Browse all 12,347 Flower quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flower/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Let me hold your heart like a flower lest it bloom and collapse.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Anne Sexton" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/let-me-hold-your-heart-like-a-flower-lest-it-bloom-and-collapse/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Flower" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/let-me-hold-your-heart-like-a-flower-lest-it-bloom-and-collapse/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6fe/anne-sexton-645_flower_let-me-hold-your-heart-like-a-flower-les_2922081.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6fe/anne-sexton-645_flower_let-me-hold-your-heart-like-a-flower-les_2922081.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6fe/anne-sexton-645_flower_let-me-hold-your-heart-like-a-flower-les_2922081.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Let me hold your heart like a flower lest it bloom and collapse.” — Anne Sexton", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Anne Sexton", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Let me hold your heart like...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/let-me-hold-your-heart-like-a-flower-lest-it-bloom-and-collapse/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/let-me-hold-your-heart-like-a-flower-lest-it-bloom-and-collapse/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```