Poems about secrets delve into the hidden depths of human experiences and emotions. They capture the burden and intrigue of undisclosed truths, drawing readers into a world of mystery and vulnerability.
These verses may explore the complexities of keeping secrets to protect oneself or others and the potential liberation that comes with sharing those truths. Through introspective storytelling, these poems encourage readers to contemplate the power of vulnerability, trust, and honesty in fostering genuine connections with others.
In Robert Browning’s ‘Meeting at Night,’ the speaker sails across the sea to secretly reunite with his beloved under the moon’s soft glow.
The secret nature of the lovers' meeting breeds the excitement and tension. The speaker's covert journey across the sea and land underscores the lengths to which they go to keep their rendezvous hidden from prying eyes. Choosing a complex and obscure route adds to the sense of secrecy and adventure, emphasizing the illicit thrill of their union. Additionally, the tapping at the pane and the muted exchange further convey the need for discretion as the lovers navigate the delicate balance between passion and societal expectations in their clandestine affair.
‘A Poison Tree’ presents the consequences of harboring anger, which becomes a poisonous tree wreaking devastation.
Secrets are central to the poem’s progression. The speaker hides their anger, allowing it to grow unchecked. This secrecy not only fuels their wrath but also enables the calculated deceit that leads to the foe’s demise. Blake critiques the danger of internalizing emotions and avoiding open resolution of conflict.
Alice Oswald’s ‘Eel Tail’ explores nature’s elusiveness and mysteries through the enigmatic movements of eels that defy human understanding.
The poem is about the secrets or mysteries of the natural world symbolized by eels, emphasizing humanity's struggle to comprehend nature fully. As the speaker peers into the water's depths, the eels vanish before being fully observed and understood. The speaker cannot follow into the natural habitat of the eels like the humans whose rational capabilities can't unlock the secrets of nature. Like the speaker, human understanding of nature's secrets stops at the 'penumbra,' away from the center of secrets.
‘The Keeper’ explores the emotional weight of secrets, blending surreal imagery and inner struggle to depict betrayal, longing, and the fragility of truth.
Here, the poet masterfully tackles the theme of secrets, portraying the speaker as someone who is weighed down by the hidden truths. Kay tells us how these secrets create emotional imbalance and conflict within the speaker. The unrelated images highlight the absurdity of holding onto these truths. This clearly emphasizes the tension between wanting to be honest and the instinct to protect oneself. In the end, the poet says that it's hard to keep secrets forever.
‘The Mushroom is the Elf of Plants’ by Emily Dickinson personifies the mushroom and nature while depicting its mysterious and fleeting life.
This poem indicates the secret aspects of nature. The speaker seems amused by the mushroom's unpredictable and mischievous behavior yet does not know how it does not follow the usual plant behavior. Notably, the speaker is guessing and making assumptions about the mushroom in the poem using subjunctive mood phrases like 'As if,' 'I feel as if,' 'had,' etc., trying to make sense of its amusing behavior as it appears and disappears suddenly. Moreover, she calls it a 'surreptitious Scion' of summer as it works secretively, and no one can tell where it's going as no one knows its secret.
‘Giuseppe’ explores the grim tale of a mermaid’s murder in WWII Sicily, highlighting the dark side of human survival instincts.
The story feels like one big secret finally being shared. The men lie about the mermaid’s body, pretend she was just a fish, and keep everything quiet. Even the uncle seems unsure about how much he should say. This sense of hiding the truth runs through every line. It shows how people carry things they can’t speak about, and how secrets grow heavier the longer they’re kept. The poem uses secrecy to build tension and guilt.
Sonnet 138, ‘When my love swears that she is made of truth,’ explores the complex dynamics of love, deception, and trust in a relationship.
Both lovers lie to each other and keep secrets in their romantic relationship. The speaker lies about his age, and his beloved lies about her faithfulness in love. Moreover, they are both aware of each other's lies but keep their knowledge secret and never confront each other for the sake of their love, as the speaker expresses in the sonnet.
‘A Sunday Morning Tragedy’ reveals a tragic attempt to avert shame, ending in the daughter’s death and the mother’s deep remorse.
Secrets guide much of the action in the poem. The daughter hides her pregnancy until she can no longer bear it. The mother hides her plan from others, even from her own daughter. The lover’s sudden change of heart also arrives like a secret revealed too late. These hidden truths build tension throughout the poem. They show how unspoken pain and private choices can have lasting consequences when people stay silent out of fear or shame.
‘One Hundred Love Sonnets: XVII’ by Pablo Neruda describes the love he feels and how it surpasses any previous definition of what love could be.
The poem shows how some of the strongest feelings, like love, live deep inside a person, kept secret from the outside world. The speaker describes love hidden between the shadow and the soul, a place no one else can see. This idea of secrets gives the poem a sense of intimacy and mystery, showing how some of the most powerful emotions are the ones we keep safe in our hearts.
I don’t love you as if you were a rose of salt, topaz,
‘The Undertaking’ by John Donne is a poem about an elevated form of love that makes the speaker’s relationship superior to other people’s.
The speaker keeps his love a secret. He believes others won’t understand or appreciate it. This secrecy adds to the love’s value and significance. It protects the purity of his feelings. The hidden nature of his love makes it more profound.
‘To a Young Girl’ by William Butler Yeats is a poem about a past love and how lovers know one another better than anyone else.
The speaker believes he knows the girl's secrets. He understands her inner feelings better than anyone. These secrets are a part of their shared past. The girl's denial of their love makes these secrets more poignant. Secrets play a vital role in the poem's emotional depth.
‘With a Water-lily’ by Henrik Ibsen is a poem that effuses affection and apprehension in equal measure, revealing a subtle but critical truth about the people we choose to love.
When the lover gives the water lily to the person they desire, the flower is transformed into a vessel. One that hides a secret of a "wave both still and deep." This secret can be interpreted as anything from an admission that their feelings are unrequited to an acknowledgment that love is not a placeholder for another person's purpose or soul. They may hold onto that love and even treasure it but it is just a flower floating atop the surface of a person with far more depth.
David Mason’s ‘Spooning’ appears in the 1991 winter issue of The Hudson Review. This poem is about a speaker recapturing his dead grandfather’s life.
The discovery of hidden aspects of the grandfather’s life, such as old photographs and untold stories, introduces the topic of secrets in the poem. These revelations lead the speaker to question what he thought he knew about his grandfather, adding a layer of mystery and complexity to the narrative. The poem suggests that everyone has hidden parts of their lives that may only be uncovered after they are gone.
‘Under the Waterfall’ is a nostalgic poem where plunging into water revives memories of lost love and an enduring symbol – a glass.
There is a quiet sense of secrecy in the poem. The glass lies hidden in a crease of the stone, in a place no one else has ever found. The memory itself feels personal, something only the speaker truly understands. This hiddenness gives the poem a private tone, like the reader is being allowed into something delicate. The waterfall keeps the secret safe, and in a way, so does the speaker by revisiting it silently.
‘Matins (Forgive Me If I Say I Love You)’ is a well thought out piece about someone who is eager to love but has not been given anything to work with.
A relationship with secrecy as its foundation won't go far. It is hard, impossible even, to love what one does not know. This is what the speaker in ‘Matins (Forgive Me If I Say I Love You)’ harps on. This is one of the topics of the poem, and the poet does a fairly good job of it.
Our Poem Guides, PDFs, Study Tools, and Articles are created by a team of qualified poetry experts to provide an unparalleled in-depth look into poetry.
