The poem is written in iambic pentameter. An iamb is a poetic foot in which an unstressed syllable is followed by a stressed syllable. A pentameter consists of five poetic feet. Iambic pentameter is the most common meter in English poetry. The best example in this poem is the final line, Line 12: “I turned aside and bowed my head and wept.” For variety, however, the poet modifies the basic iambic rhythm. Line 2, for example, begins with two stressed syllables (“Cocoa”). This type of foot is known as a spondee. Another spondee occurs at the end of Line 7 (“blue skies”); both syllables are stressed. Line 4 begins with an inversion of the first foot (“Fit for”); it is not iambic but trochaic. A trochee is a poetic foot in which the first syllable is stressed and the second syllable is unstressed. Stanza 2 also begins with a trochaic foot (“Set in,” Line 5).

The poem is in the form of rhyming quatrains. This means that each stanza consists of four lines that rhyme in a consistent manner at the end of the line.