18 pages • 36 minutes read
Emily DickinsonWhat mystery pervades a well!
Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1896A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
The Well
The well is self-contained, yet full of magic and mystery, straddling the border of the constructed and natural worlds.
Initially, the well water is described as a benevolent force: “A neighbor from another world / Residing in a jar” (Lines 3-4). This image brings to mind a friendly genie in a bottle, contrasting containment and otherworldly magic. Although the water has an unknown depth forever out of reach, it remains within safe boundaries imposed upon it by mankind. The speaker can enjoy its mysteries without any risk of becoming lost in them. The next stanza, however, introduces the well’s more sinister aspect: “an abyss's face” (Line 12). While the water is still restrained within the boundaries of the well, this moment hints at the true potential of nature.
Through the image of the well the reader can also explore the relationship between nature and man. People who own the land have created a tunnel to a natural resource for their own benefit: the harvest of fresh water. While this is characteristic of humanity’s relationship with nature, the image of the sea—water that is unbounded—shows the arrogance of ignoring the much larger natural system.
The Grass
The grass that grows beside the well is nature at its most tame, bringing to mind a domestic, halcyon quality. However, the speaker describes the grass as “bold” (Line 11), unaware of the awe-inspiring depths of the nearby water. The personification of the grass as male is a subtle bit of humor: Though this grass has little power of his own, he feels, perhaps unwisely, confident in the face of those greater than himself. Here the speaker expresses mixture of envy and disdain at the grass’s ignorant self-assuredness. This metaphor continues into the wild sedge grass, which also feels no apprehension despite being in danger of falling into the raging sea.
What prompts such confidence in these beings? The grass symbolizes human ignorance—the willful disregard of the sublimity and awe nature should inspire. People have a strong need to imagine themselves safe, and an aversion to depths may force us to question that security.
The Sea
The sea serves as a parallel to the well. Both are sources of water and have a relationship with mankind’s survival. The primary difference, of course, is that the sea is uncontained. Unlike the well water, the sea can shift with the tides and even erode parts of the landscape, such as the ground beneath the sedge grass. Another notable difference is accessibility. The well can be tapped at any time without regard to currents or storms or tides, and it is a resource limited to one particular household or family. The sea, by contrast, represents an entire ecosystem that supports myriad life forms. This places the sea farther away from humanity, and thus closer to the core, feminine core of nature as expressed in the poem. This may be why the sea is the poem’s only figure that is left genderless—it has aspects in common with both the masculine symbols of the well and the grass, as well as the feminine divinity of nature.
Related Titles
By Emily Dickinson
