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18 pages 36 minutes read

Naomi Shihab Nye

Burning the Old Year

Naomi Shihab NyeFiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1995

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Literary Devices

Form and Meter

“Burning the Old Year” is written in free verse—meaning it does not employ a definitive rhyme scheme or meter—but it contains a rhythmic quality when read. The poem contains four stanzas with 15 lines total. The stanzas vary in line length and amount of lines in each. Nye makes use of enjambment: Her lines do not end with terminal punctuation and the ideas run over onto the next line.

Despite the poem containing no formal verse or meter, it has a musical quality achieved through the use of literary devices. Her personification, onomatopoeias, figurative language, and rich imagery combine to create a rhythmic poem. Specific use of verbiage and syntax, how she structures her lines, both aid in this.

Figurative Language

Figurative language goes beyond the literal meaning of the written text to convey a message. Nye uses figurative language throughout “Burning the Old Year” to convey the poem’s central themes; she uses personification, simile, and imagery to create a poem that merges the concrete with the abstract.

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