A group of children are digging pretend wells when they uncover a worm in a clod of dirt. They stop their game to watch it pucker, stretch, and try to burrow back into the earth. One boy prevents it from leaving, and the speaker pokes it just to see it squirm. Then another child asks the surprisingly big question: does the worm know it’s a worm? The moment turns from playful inspection into real wondering. The children sit back on their heels and try to answer, forgetting their digging entirely. They don’t resolve the question, but the poem doesn’t need them to. It captures that childhood blend of curiosity, slight mischief, and sudden awe before a small living thing. The mood is quiet and thoughtful, with the worm finally slipping back into its clod as if returning home.
The Worm — Summary
Dickie found a broken spade And said he'd dig himself a well; And then Charles took a piece of tin, And I was digging with a shell.
Then Will said he would dig one too. We shaped them out and made them wide, And I dug up a piece of clod That had a little worm inside.
We watched him pucker up himself And stretch himself to walk away. He tried to go inside the dirt, But Dickie made him wait and stay.
His shining skin was soft and wet. I poked him once to see him squirm. And then Will said, "I wonder if He knows that he's a worm."
And then we sat back on our feet And wondered for a little bit. And we forgot to dig our wells Awhile, and tried to answer it.
And while we tried to find it out, He puckered in a little wad, And then he stretched himself again And went back home inside the clod.