Winter: My Secret

Question 1

“You want to hear it? well:
Only, my secret’s mine, and I won’t tell.”

Answer 1

Winter:
- The speaker does not wish to tell her secret until the time is right
- Her secret seems frozen in the winter month until it warms up
- Humorous tone as the speaker teases the truth

Question 2

“Suppose there is no secret after all,
But only just my fun.”

Answer 2

Winter:
- Hints that there might be no secret at all
- Admits to possibly teasing him for pleasure
- Reference that he be might be chasing a love that never existed
- Even if the narrator discards the love, it may still be a secret

Question 3

“Spring’s an expansive time: yet I don’t trust
March with its peck of dust,”

Answer 3

Winter:
- The speaker claims that the secret will only come out in time of warmth
- Secret would only come out on the speaker’s terms, she has complete agency
- Seasons personified, attempting to assert control which the speaker doesn’t trust
- The beauty of the season doesn’t hold the satisfaction she expects

Question 4

“Nor even May, whose flowers,
One frost may wither thro’ the sunless hours.”

Answer 4

Winter:
- The speaker does not relate to the warmth of winter
- Despairs at the temporary nature of summer and the bloom of flowers
- A single winter could reverse all the positive effects of a summer harvest

Question 4

“Perhaps my secret I may say,
Or perhaps you may guess.”

Answer 4

Winter:
- The speaker is still teasing, encouraging the listener with images of a bountiful summer
- Its harvest represents the revealed secret
- Ultimately ends with an indifferent tone as the reader shrugs off her former lover
- Ends with an empowered tone as she liberates herself from her partner