The opera compellingly explores an ambiguous place between horrific fear of sexual attack and secret yearning for ravishment.

'It was necessary to explore, to the utmost, pain and cruelty and the dark secret yearning of men's souls,' he said.

'Did you ever have secret yearnings to be a performer?'

Back when Vance Packard was writing, car dealers had a way of exploiting people's secret yearnings.

He, Vincent, harbored secret yearnings for the familiar faces and voices.

To toy with death to assuage his secret yearning.

As a noble, you need not stifle even your most secret yearnings.

Perhaps he has secret yearnings to act, or writes unpublished poetry!

She harbours a secret yearning, sublimated for years, but which is finally satisfied.