The Reticent Volcano Keeps

The Reticent Volcano Keeps - meaning Summary

Secrecy and Spiritual Endurance

Dickinson contrasts private, inexorable natural forces with human reticence to suggest some truths exist without witnesses. The volcano’s silent plans and nature’s refusal to divulge divine origins imply that human life and belief can persist without public affirmation. She warns against idle talk and proposes that the deepest shared secret—immortality—remains inward and unproven. The poem values interior conviction over exposition or social validation.