Originally, this poem was left untitled—using the first line as the title is a long-time poetry convention. Therefore, it is best to examine the poem without the title for the contained sense of balance it carries as six freestanding stanzas. The first line is completely self-contained—it ends in an exclamation mark, finishing the thought rather than carrying it over to the next line. This use of simple, straightforward language and closing punctuation causes the line to act as a thesis statement for the rest of the poem. Every image that follows is in support of the idea that even a small, enclosed space like a well holds unknowable and possibly unfathomable depths.

The first stanza introduces the theme of mystery in an intimate, jovial tone. The water is described as a “neighbor” (Line 3), and the well is shrunk into a “jar” (Line 4). This perspective builds a personal relationship between the speaker and the well, one that is reinforced in the second stanza, when the speaker is identified through the pronoun “I” while the well is personified as “he.”

The coziness of this tete-a-tete between neighbors is a powerful contrast to the darker, more atmospheric

Don't Miss Out!

Access Study Guide Now