I Went to a Wishing Well Poem

I Went to a Wishing Well is a fictitious poem written by Kenn Nesbitt. Kenn is an American poet who focuses more on writing children’s poems. In fact, back in June 2013, Kenn was named Children’s Poet Laureate by the famous Poetry Foundation. Now, this fictitious poem talks of a wishing well where an individual wishes for lots of things by tossing a coin into a well.

This poem is specifically written for the younger generation out there. In fact, the poem encourages the younger generation to think innovatively. Now, further, in this poem, we will talk about I Went to a Wishing Well poem summary, I Went to a Wishing Well poem story, I Went to a Wishing Well poem lyrics, and the theme. 

I Went to a Wishing Well Poem Lyrics 

“I went to a wishing well, 

tossed in a penny, 

and made a few wishes. 

In fact, I made many.”

“I wished I was famous.

I wished I could fly.

I wished I were rich, 

and a rock star or spy.”

“I wished for a robot 

to do all my chores,

a dog that could talk,

and a few dinosaurs.” 

“I wished for a dragon 

and unicorn too.

Regrettably, none of 

my wishes came true.”

“I made lots of wishes 

but didn’t get any.

I guess, these days, 

wishes cost more than a penny.”

I Went to a Wishing Well Poem Lyrics

I Went to a Wishing Well Poem Meaning 

The poem consists of five stanzas with four lines each. It is a twenty-line poem written by Kenn Nesbitt. The poet speaks of a wishing well where the speaker makes royal wishes. Now, what happens further in the poem is discussed below.

Stanza 1:-

In the first stanza, we can see that the speaker went to a wishing well and “tossed a penny” down. The speaker thought he would throw down a penny and make any wish that he wanted. At the ending line, excitedly the speaker says that he makes many wishes, not just one. 

Stanza 2:-

The first wish comes in the second stanza. Here, the speaker wishes he was famous and could fly anywhere. It seems like the speaker wants to roam all around the world freely without any tension. Again, the speaker wishes that he was very rich, a rock star, and a spy. The wishes made by the speaker seem to be quite unnatural. No one in the world can become a rock star and a spy at the same time. Additionally, a normal human being cannot fly anywhere.

Flying in the Sky 

Stanza 3:-

Again, in the third stanza, the speaker makes unique wishes. We learn that he has so many wishes left within himself. The speaker wishes for a robot that could do all his daily boring work. This proves that the speaker is sick of his daily routine and needs someone to do it for him. In the next lines, the speaker asks for a dog that could talk to him and a few dinosaurs. These lines of the poem prove that the speaker is looking for a companion. 

Stanza 4:-

Here, in this stanza, the speaker wishes for two impossible animals, and they are a dragon and a unicorn. Now, asking such wishes from a wishing well seems to be quite unrealistic. It is not possible for the well to offer such wishes to the speaker. In fact, no one surely knows if the well is a wishing well or not.

Unicorn and Dragon

Stanza 5:-

Stanza five is the last stanza of this beautifully-crafted poem. Unfortunately, the ending of this poem ends on a sad note from the speaker’s point of view. The speaker says he did make lots of unnatural wishes but none of them came true. Not a single wish of his got fulfilled. It seems like the speaker was quite sad about it as he was very excited that all of his wishes could have come true. The speaker at the end says that he could have thrown more pennies down the well for all his wishes to come true. 

Theme of I Went to a Wishing Well Poem 

I Went to a Wishing Well story is quite unique. Normally, such a fictitious poem ends with a happy note, but in this case, it is quite different. The theme of this poem is “everyone wants to be rich and happy without hard work”. That is possible in the fictitious world but not in the real world. One needs to work hard to achieve his dreams and when he does, that could be the best wish he had wished to be. 

I Went to a Wishing Well Poem Summary

I Went to a Wishing Well story is very simple, one must wish only when he/she is eligible to do so. Unfortunately, we do not know why the wishes asked were not granted but, we can say that everything he wished was to make his life easier. One must remember nothing is easy in this world. Everyone needs to work hard to achieve something in their life. In the same way, the moral of this poem is that the easy way is the hard way, do not take shortcuts in life.

We learnt this beautiful poem in this article. We also discussed its theme and meaning. We hope this article was beneficial for you.