20 pages 40 minutes read

Robert Browning

The Last Ride Together

Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1855

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Literary Devices

Poetic Form and Structure

“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).

Related Titles

By Robert Browning

Study Guide

logo

Fra Lippo Lippi

Robert Browning

Fra Lippo Lippi

Robert Browning

Plot Summary

logo

Meeting at Night

Robert Browning

Meeting at Night

Robert Browning

Study Guide

logo

Porphyria's Lover

Robert Browning

Porphyria's Lover

Robert Browning

Study Guide

logo

The Pied Piper of Hamelin

Robert Browning

The Pied Piper of Hamelin

Robert Browning