Emily Dickinson Lexicon

brake, v. [see break, v.; archaic form of past tense “broke.”]

Interrupt; extinguish; finish; cut off; end prematurely; bring to a temporary close; [word play] harrow; crush like flax; knead like bread dough; [transferred passive]: “His Life was broken”; submit to violence at the hands of others; [fig.] sacrifice; give up; split into pieces; divide into portions to share with others; offer a portion of bread as in the sacrament ordinance (see Matthew 26:26 “Jesus took bread and blessed it, and brake”).