As a lyrical poem, this poem uses a first-person point of view to express the speaker’s emotions. It is structured in four quatrains, or four-line stanzas.

The meter, though not consistent, most closely resembles ballad meter. Ballad meter consists of alternating couplets. The first line is tetrameter, which is four sets of syllables, and the second line is trimeter, which is three sets of syllables. Only the final stanza fully follows the meter while the other stanzas are more irregular. The first stanza sounds stilted when read according to ballad meter. Stanzas two and three have a shortened first line, which creates an abrupt effect. Dickinson commonly uses this meter, which is less regular and more conversational than other meters. This meter is also frequently used in songs, especially hymns.

As is typical in a ballad form, the second line in each couplet rhymes, which makes the stanza’s rhyme scheme ABCB. Yet the second and fourth stanzas use slant rhyme for the first and third lines. Slant rhyme, also called near rhyme, means the words end in similar, though not identical, sounds.