América

The poem is written in free verse and has no regular meter; nor does it employ rhyme. The sentences are often long; the nine lines of the first stanza consist of just one sentence, and the fifteen lines of stanza two form just two sentences. In each case the rhythm of the sentence is controlled by line breaks and punctuation, including commas and especially long dashes (known as em dashes) to set off subordinate clauses. In stanza three, the sentences are shorter and still use the em dash. The fourteen lines of stanza four are shorter than most of the other lines, with the rhythm controlled through comma, semi-colon, and colon. This stanza also consists of just one sentence. Stanza five is marked by the steady accumulation of detail about the Thanksgiving feast; the first three sentences have similar rhythms, each taking up three lines. After one four-line sentence, the pattern of three-line sentences is restored for two more sentences.

The shortest line in the poem is “in América” (Line 85). The name of the country is italicized, and with the acute accent over the “e,” it is meant to be pronounced as in Spanish.