In Act IV of Chekhov’s Three Sisters, trying to explain to the baron why, although she’s happy to become his wife, she does not ‘love’ him (‘it’s not in my power to’), Irina says:‘I’ve dreamt about love, I’ve dreamt about it day and night for years, but my heart is like a glorious grand piano, and the lid is closed and the key is thrown away.'
Source: A Chekhov, Three Sisters.
Image: “Like a glorious grand piano, and the lid is closed and the key is thrown away.”