The Blackstone Rangers

“The Blackstone Rangers” is a poem of 66 lines divided into three numbered parts. There is no regular rhyme, rhythm, or stanza length, making the poem free verse. The primary organizational structures are the Parts, with each Part representing a different perspective on the Blackstone Rangers. The Parts grow progressively longer and the point-of-view more subjective and interiorized over the course of the poem.

There are some highly rhythmic lines, achieved with strings of stressed syllables. Every syllable in Line 1 is stressed, and every syllable but the last—"ready” (Line 3) is stressed in Line 3. That strong stress communicates the tension in the scene as the gang members face off with the police. The last line of the first stanza has three iambs in a row (an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable), “that do | not want | to heal” (Line 5), that give the line a regular rhythm, fitting since these last two lines mark a moment of clarity for the observer, who realizes there will be violence because the Rangers want it that way.

Other portions of the poem are held together with incidental (irregularly occurring) rhymes.