Blackberry Eating

The form of “Blackberry Eating” does not follow strict metrical patterns. Technically, it is a quatorzain, or a one-stanza 14-line poem without an end-rhyme scheme. The meter of the poem is more free verse than strict unrhymed iambic pentameter or blank verse. In this case, it can also be classified as the un-rhymed American sonnet made popular by Robert Lowell’s book-length sonnet sequence The Dolphin (1973). “Blackberry Eating” also has aspects of a Petrarchan sonnet, with a turn or volta after the first eight lines of the poem. The turn introduces a new argument to the poem that usually builds on the original arguments in the poem. A Petrarchan sonnet has a strict rhyme scheme (ABBAABBA CDECDE) and is organized into an octave and a sestet, with the poetic turn after the octave. The poem also has a general theme of love for nature, which counts for the usual subject of sonnets: love.

Alliteration takes the place of a rhyme scheme in “Blackberry Eating.” Alliteration is the