Blackberry Picking

“Blackberry Picking” consists of two stanzas, the first 16 lines and the second 8 lines for a total of 24 lines. Rather than separating the poem by formal guidelines, the poet divided it into two irregular halves by splitting them at the poem’s major turning point—in terms of both physical location and theme. Each stanza consists of a series of very loosely rhyming couplets, AABBCC and so forth; with only two notable exceptions, each “rhyme” uses partial or slant rhymes to communicate a feeling of rhythm rather than using true end rhymes. This gives the poem a more natural, conversational feel appropriate to the imagery while retaining the unity and coherence of more traditional work. Rare true rhymes can be found in Lines 3-4 (“clot” and knot”) and Lines 23-24 (“rot” and “not”). All four of these words rhyme, which gives the poem a circular, unified quality from beginning to end.

The poem does not follow a strict meter, although the opening lines follow a more regular iambic pentameter: “Late August, given heavy rain and sun” (Line 1) and “At first, just one, a glossy purple clot” (Line 3) follow this structure.