Doing of her death

[Talab1234]

“A broken heart was the doing of her death.”

Is this sentence correct?

I would say “Her death was the doing of a broken heart.”

It was from the speech of Lisa Marie Presley’s daughter.

 

[Skrej]

Neither works for me at all. 'doing of her death' is meaningless. I was very surprised to find out you'd quoted it correctly.

After a bit of research, it turns out the line was read by her mother, but written by one of her 14-year-old daughters . Still, I'm surprised a native speaker would say something like that. I wouldn't be so surprised if it was from a much younger child, but it's not the kind of error I'd expect someone that old to make.

Edit: I suppose it's a variation on the phrase 'X was the doing of Y'. You might hear for example "The graffitti was the doing of some juvenile delinquents', but I still don't think the construction works in this context.

 

[emsr2d2]

I think she misspoke. The phrase "to do for him/her" is used when talking about the cause of someone's death.

Her broken heart did for her = Her broken heart killed her

 

[Skrej]

I think she misspoke. The phrase "to do for him/her" is used when talking about the cause of someone's death.

Her broken heart did for her = Her broken heart killed her

I think that's just a BrE expression, however. I've never heard it until your post, anyway. If it is exclusively BrE, then presumably that wasn't what a young AmE speaker wrote.

However, it could well be that the speaker did misread something. A photo I saw showed the speaker reading the lines from her phone. A mother eulogizing her daughter might very well be understandably distracted.

 

[Amigos4]

After a bit of research, it turns out the line was read by her mother, but written by one of her 14-year-old granddaughters . Still, I'm surprised a native speaker would say something like that. I wouldn't be so surprised if it was from a much younger child, but it's not the kind of error I'd expect someone that old to make. Priscilla was reading an original poem, The Old Soul, authored by one of her granddaughters. Poets, in this case a close family member, often employ poetic license (The freedom to depart from the facts of a matter or from the conventional rules of language when speaking or writing in order to create an effect.) in their poems.

 

[Amigos4]

I think that's just a BrE expression, however. I've never heard it until your post, anyway. If it is exclusively BrE, then presumably that wasn't what a young AmE speaker wrote.

However, it could well be that the speaker did misread something. A photo I saw showed the speaker reading the lines from her phone. A mother eulogizing her daughter might very well be understandably distracted.

"A mother eulogizing her daughter might very well be understandably distracted." That is true, but Priscilla accurately read her granddaughter's poem that was written in AmE.

 

[Skrej]

Yes, it was read by her (Lisa Marie's) mother but written by her(Lisa Marie's) daughter.

Poetry still has to make sense even if it bends or breaks the rules of grammar. It need not be grammatical, but it does need to be comprehensible and meaningful. The original is not, in my opinion. It sounds like the construction of a non-native speaker or very young child. It's borderline meaningless to me.

Edit: Back to the OP's question. Since there's some question on the acceptability on the original version, it's hard to say whether your proposed version is any better. Some us aren't certain what the original version is trying to say.