At the Sea-Side

The structure of “At the Sea-Side” consists of a single stanza of six lines. The rhyme scheme of this single stanza features two rhyming couplets in a somewhat regular rhyme scheme: aabccb. A closer look at the meter reveals a somewhat regular yet likewise imperfect pattern. The first two lines of the poem are written in iambic tetrameter. An iamb is a metrical foot, or unit, of poetry consisting of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable. With a line written in iambic tetrameter, this means that there are four of these unstressed/stressed units: “When I was down beside the sea / A wooden spade they gave to me” (Lines 1-2).

The third line of the stanza, however, is written in iambic trimeter, meaning there are three of these unstressed/stressed units. Line 3 reads: “To dig the sandy shore.” The next three lines of the stanza, Lines 4-6, follow this same metrical pattern. Lines 4 and 5 are written in iambic tetrameter and Line 6 is written in iambic trimeter. Both the third and the sixth lines—the lines written in iambic trimeter—rhyme with one another, separating the rhyming couplets that comprise the other lines.