The Last Ride Together

“The Last Ride Together” consists of 10 uniform stanzas, with 11 lines in each. The rhyme is unconventional: aabbcddeeec. The first four lines are a pair of couplets, or two lines that share a rhyme (aa and bb). The fifth and the 11th lines rhyme with each other and envelop the lines and rhymes in between. This makes the fifth and the 11th lines stand out. The fifth line often sums up the previous four lines. The 11th line brings to conclusion the ideas developed in the five preceding lines and maintains the motif of the ride throughout the poem. The complex rhyme scheme, further complicated by the poem’s syntax, reflects the intricacy of the speaker’s thought process and the somewhat meandering nature of his speech. However, the fifth and the 11 lines in each stanza serve as the foundations of the poem’s structure and highlight its main ideas.

Take Stanza 2 as an example. Its first four lines describe the woman’s hesitation regarding the speaker’s request, and the fifth line explains its significance to him and signals her acceptance: “With life or death in the balance: right!” (Line 16).