“Valentine for Ernest Mann” is a 29-line poem written in free verse, following no set pattern of rhyme or rhythm, but breaking into four distinct stanzas. Each stanza presents a new movement of the poem, beginning with a direct address and simile in the first stanza then moving toward a resolution to Ernest Mann’s request in the second stanza. The third stanza presents a story as a way of illuminating the speaker’s answer, and the final stanza offers a way to move forward in the world, in community and conversation.

While the poem does not adhere to any strict form, Nye nonetheless makes use of figurative language, like simile and metaphor, and uses enjambment to pace the poem and create tension, drawing the reader’s attention to the images Nye wants to emphasize.

“Valentine for Ernest Mann” uses personification, or the assigning of human characteristics to non-human subjects, to emphasize the importance of poetry in human life. Throughout the poem, Nye uses verbs like “sleeping,” “hiding,” “crawled,” and “curled” to evoke an active, living sense of poetry.