In the Well

In the Well
Andrew Hudgins
My father cinched the rope,
a noose around my waist,
and lowered me in to
the darkness. I could taste

my fear. It tasted first
of dark, then earth, then rot.
I swung and struck my head
and at that moment got

another then: then blood,
which spiked my mouth with iron.
Hand over hand, my father
dropped me from then to then:

then water. Then wet fur,
which I hugged to my chest.
I shouted. Daddy hauled
the wet rope. I gagged, and pressed

my neighbor's missing dog
against me. I held its death
and rose up to my father.
Then light. Then hands. Then breath.

Speaker: The speaker of the poem "In the Well" is the boy that is being lowered by his father into the well to try to save the dog.

Diction: The author uses alot of words that give off a negative connotation. For example, in the line "I could taste my fear. It tasted first of dark, then earth, then rot," the author uses words like dark, earth and rot to show what the boy was feeling when he was being lowered into a deep, dark well. Another two lines that shows this connotations is mostly in the last stanza. "I gagged and pressed my neighbor's missing dog against me. I held its death and rose up to my father." This is a very negative line that tells how the boy found their neighbors missing dog dead at the bottom of the well and how he had to bring it back up with him. These lines truly show how this poem explains the evilness emanating from the well.

Imagery: There are many examples of imagery in the poem "In the Well". One example is the line, "My father cinched the rope, a noose around my waist, and lowered me into the darkness." This line gives me a accurate picture of the father tieing a knot around the boys waist and lowering him slowly into the darkness of the well. Another line that contains imagery is "It tasted first of dark, then earth, then rot." This line shows the progressiveness of the boy being lowered down the well. Each of these layers have a different taste and he is using tastes to show where he is because he cannot see. "I gagged, and pressed my neighbor's missing dog against me." This line describes how the boy is holding the wet dead dog to his chest and gagging from the repulsiveness of it.

Figurative Language: The line "I could taste my fear" is personification because you cannot taste something that is an emotion.

Patterns and Changes: In the first two paragraphs, the boy is being lowered into the well while in the last two paragraphs, he is being pulled back up.

Meaning: The meaning of the poem is that we must face our fears so we can surpass them. In the poem, the boy is scared of the dark and of the well, as described in the line, "I could taste my fear." As he is being pulled up, he is relieved to be back in the light and to be able to breath fresh and clean air.