In “Tear It Down” the heart is a symbol of a person’s emotional center—a common and relatable means of representing feelings. The first lines of the poem read, “We find out the heart only by dismantling what / the heart knows” (Lines 1-2). Not conformed to the literal meaning, the heart here is personified—it “knows” (Line 2)—and the reader can interpret this in an emotional or metaphysical way. It could symbolize personal feelings surrounding love, home, identity, or any other personalized definition. This ambiguity allows the reader to project their own interpretation onto the text.

The significance of the word and its applicability across myriad contexts is essential. For example, when a person gets to the “heart of the matter,” it means they have reached an understanding of a concept. Further, the widely understood “heartbreak” is not literal, but an akin emotional struggle humans undergo when losing something or someone they love. Thus, the “heart” in these lines symbolizes and functions as an imperative emotional aspect of a person.

In the poem, Pittsburgh is the setting of the speaker’s childhood; it was Gilbert’s hometown. In the line before the first mention of the city, the speaker says, “Going back toward childhood will not help” (Line 8) before stating “The village is not better than Pittsburgh.