"In the Well" by Andrew Hudgins

Andrew Hudgins uses an anxious, relaxed and fearful tone in his poem "In the Well." He employs antanaclasis to transition from darkness to light and show how difficult situations always have a way out. He accomplishes this through repeating "then," allowing himself to build upon his previous narrative to finally "[rise] up to [his] father." He starts by entering the well, writing that it "tasted first / of dark, then earth, then rot." He plunges into the darkness in fear, and experiences the difficulties of being underground. He experiences pain in the poem, and then hits his head, "and at that moment got / another then: then blood." His plight continues with his father "[dropping him] from then to then: / then water. Then wet fur." The poem climaxes with the situation solved, yet tragically, the dog is found deceased. However, Hudgins continues after finding the canine: "Then light. Then hands. Then breath." By repetitively utilizing the phrase "then," He shows how the darkest of times will eventually result in relief, as a young Hudgins finally exits the well with his task behind him.