The Journey

“The Journey” is a free verse poem. It contains 36 lines of various lengths, from three syllables, such as in Line 4 and Line 10, to eight syllables, such as in Line 24 and Line 31. This means that the poem employs a variety of meters. Keeping the line lengths under 10 syllables creates more white space than longer lines, such as the classic English pentameter. The short lines stretch halfway across the page, at their widest point, making a thin column. In a standard-sized book, the number of lines in this column causes the poem to extend onto a second page. In digital format online, as this poem is often posted, the length of a poem equates to how many times the reader has to scroll (“The Journey” fits into one scroll on a small laptop screen).

Oliver doesn’t include stanza breaks, but the poem can be broken up by end punctuation. However, like the lines, the sentences vary in length. The first sentence is nine lines long, the second sentence is two lines long (including a quote), and the third sentence is one line long. The final sentence of the poem is 14 lines long.