Literary notes about kept (AI summary)
The word “kept” serves as a versatile verb in literature, functioning to indicate not only preservation or continuation but also restraint, maintenance, and fidelity. In many texts it denotes the act of safeguarding or preserving something: for instance, secrets are to be “kept” hidden from view ([1], [2], [3], [4]), while promises and words are “kept” as signals of character and honor ([5], [6], [7], [8]). At other times, “kept” describes a continuous state, such as a door remaining secure ([9]) or a sound persisting through the night ([10]). It may also imply containment or control over actions, as when someone "kept their eyes" fixed on a direction ([11]) or "kept away" from what might cause distress ([12]). In this manner, “kept” enriches literary expression by spanning contexts from the physical to the abstract, reinforcing themes of duty, secrecy, and perseverance throughout diverse narratives and genres.
- I do not wish you to be seen leaving; our interview must be kept secret.”
— from Twenty years after by Alexandre Dumas and Auguste Maquet - I must request you, in the meantime, to keep your secret as you have kept it so long and not to wonder that I keep it too."
— from Bleak House by Charles Dickens - But what this deed should be was kept secret from me.
— from Revelations of Divine Love - They both approved of it without receiving me less politely, and the secret was so well kept that it was never known to the public.
— from The Confessions of Jean Jacques Rousseau — Complete by Jean-Jacques Rousseau - Sam Weller kept his word, and remained unmarried, for two years.
— from The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens - 'I trust I have kept the promise I made through your servant, that I would detain you a very few minutes.
— from Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens - You kept so well on your guard that I would have sworn you knew nothing whatever of the affair.”
— from The Memoirs of Jacques Casanova de Seingalt, 1725-1798. Complete by Giacomo Casanova - He kept his word.
— from Life on the Mississippi by Mark Twain - Ay, but the doors be lock'd and keys kept safe, That no man hath recourse to her by night.
— from The Complete Works of William Shakespeare by William Shakespeare - And then that drip-drop, drip-drop kept up all night until my nerves just went to pieces.
— from Anne of the Island by L. M. Montgomery - His eyes never met mine; they kept wandering to and fro, up and down, now with a look to the sky, now with a flitting glance upon the dead O'Brien.
— from Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson - He kept away from concerts lest he should meet her.
— from Dubliners by James Joyce
