The poem consists of 24 10-line stanzas written for the most part in iambic pentameter. A pentameter line consists of five poetic feet. An iambic foot consists of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable. It is the most common meter (or rhythm) in English poetry. The iambic pentameter can be clearly seen in the very first line of the poem (stressed syllables are in bold): “How changed is here each spot man makes or fills!” Line 3 presents another good example of a regular iambic pentameter line: “The village street its haunted mansion lacks.”

However, Line 6 of each stanza is not in iambic pentameter. It is a shorter line consisting of just three poetic feet. It is therefore known as an iambic trimeter. Thus, Stanza 2, Line 6 is, “This winter eve is warm.”

For the sake of variety and emphasis, Arnold also employs many substitutions in which the iambic rhythm is briefly disrupted by the use of a different kind of poetic foot. Line 17, for example, contains two trochaic feet, in which the first syllable rather than the second is stressed (this stressed-then-unstressed pattern is called a trochee): “Humid the air! Leafless.