To Help the Monkey Cross the River

The poem does not follow formal conventions of form and meter. It is unrhymed, unbroken into stanzas, and has irregular line lengths. The shortest lines contain only three words (Lines 3, 5), while the longest (Line 26) stretches to 12 words. The lines are often enjambed, or continue without end stop punctuation from one line to the next as in “which he must / cross, by swimming, for fruits and nuts, / to help him” (Lines 1-3). The first line is a continuation of the title; alternatively, the title can be regarded as the first line of the poem.

The effect created by the enjambed lines and the lack of stanzas is an urgent interior monologue. What the speaker has to say is urgent and precise; therefore, the lack of formal structure is the best form for the poem. Although the poem lacks rhyme, its spare structure and tightly controlled lines give it an internal rhythm and musicality, enhanced by occasional uses of auditory devices such as alliteration and repetition. Alliteration occurs in Line 13, with the phrase “algebra, angles,” and with “snake-speed” in Line 14.