A Well
What mystery pervades a well!The water lives so far,Like neighbor from another worldResiding in a jar.
The grass does not appear afraid;I often wonder heCan stand so close and look so boldAt what is dread to me.
Related somehow they may be, --The sedge stands next the sea,Where he is floorless, yet of fearNo evidence gives he.
But nature is a stranger yet;The ones that cite her mostHave never passed her haunted house,Nor simplified her ghost.
To pity those that know her notIs helped by the regretThat those who know her, know her lessThe nearer her they get.
Words in this poem
- somehow adv.
- In one way or another; in some way not yet known or designated; by some means; as, the thing must be done somehow; he lives somehow.
- floorless a.
- Having no floor.
- haunted a.
- Inhabited by, or subject to the visits of, apparitions; frequented by a ghost.
- ghost n.
- The spirit; the soul of man. [OE. gast, gost, soul, spirit, AS. gast breath, spirit, soul; akin to OS. g spirit, soul, D. geest, G. geist, and prob. to E. gaze, ghastly.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Well is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems by Emily Dickinson, Three Series, Complete, Project Gutenberg ebook #12242; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Emily Dickinson, A Well, in Poems (1890–1896), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12242, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/dickinson-poems/a-well.html, id L03791.
Form and metre
A Well is 20 lines in 5 stanzas of 4 lines each. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%). 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 6.9 syllables. 40% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in common measure.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 -A-A well · farA · world · jarA
- 2 -A-A afraid · heA · bold · meA
- 3 AA-A beA · seaA · fear · heA
- 4 -A-A yet · mostA · house · ghostA
- 5 -A-A not · regretA · less · getA
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against common measure. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| What mystery pervades a well! | 8 | ·/˘˘˘/·· |
| The water lives so far, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Like neighbor from another world | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| Residing in a jar. | 6 | ˘/˘··· |
| The grass does not appear afraid; | 8 | ····˘/˘/ |
| I often wonder he | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| Can stand so close and look so bold | 8 | ········ |
| At what is dread to me. | 6 | ······ |
| Related somehow they may be, -- | 8 | ˘/˘/···· |
| The sedge stands next the sea, | 6 | ······ |
| Where he is floorless, yet of fear | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| No evidence gives he. | 6 | ·/˘˘·· |
| But nature is a stranger yet; | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| The ones that cite her most | 6 | ······ |
| Have never passed her haunted house, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Nor simplified her ghost. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| To pity those that know her not | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Is helped by the regret | 6 | ····˘/ |
| That those who know her, know her less | 8 | ········ |
| The nearer her they get. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.