The speaker is exhausted by the past and afraid of what tomorrow may bring, so she deliberately creates “To-day” as a shelter: a perfect, self-made day full of cliffs, foxgloves, gorse, thyme, painted peace, and misty seas. The repeated act of building gives the poem a ritual, almost defiant tone. But the beauty is shadowed by fragility—the day is built on sands, and the need to hide her heart “before to-morrow kills it” reveals how vulnerable she feels. The “Secret Friend” living in the cliff house seems to be a private source of comfort or imagined companionship. The mood is dreamy and protective, yet wistful: she insists she will not be afraid, but the very need to wall out tomorrow shows the sorrow and anxiety pressing in. It reads like a gentle, self-made spell against time.
The Secret Day — Summary
My yesterday has gone, has gone and left me tired, And now to-morrow comes and beats upon the door; So I have built To-day, the day that I desired, Lest joy come not again, lest peace return no more, Lest comfort come no more.
So I have built To-day, a proud and perfect day, And I have built the towers of cliffs upon the sands; The foxgloves and the gorse I planted on my way; The thyme, the velvet thyme, grew up beneath my hands, Grew pink beneath my hands.
So I have built To-day, more precious than a dream; And I have painted peace upon the sky above; And I have made immense and misty seas, that seem More kind to me than life, more fair to me than love-- More beautiful than love.
And I have built a house--a house upon the brink Of high and twisted cliffs; the sea's low singing fills it; And there my Secret Friend abides, and there I think I'll hide my heart away before to-morrow kills it-- A cold to-morrow kills it.
Yes, I have built To-day, a wall against To-morrow, So let To-morrow knock--I shall not be afraid, For none shall give me death, and none shall give me sorrow, And none shall spoil this darling day that I have made. No storm shall stir my sea. No night but mine shall shade This day that I have made.