So This is Nebraska

“So this is Nebraska” is composed in seven stanzas. Each stanza contains four lines and is thus a quatrain. Although the poem does not have a rhyme scheme or an exact meter, Kooser comes close to iambic pentameter. Almost all the lines have between nine and 11 syllables, and iambic pentameter requires ten syllables or five metrical feet. Thus, Kooser’s poem about age nods to a past when poets, like William Shakespeare, commonly wrote poems in iambic pentameter.

Overall, the poem has a tidy, even shape to it. None of the lines jut out or look oddly short. Meanwhile, all of the stanzas are the same size. Thus, the tight form contrasts with the poem’s loose, wild images and themes. Unlike the barns, the truck, and the possibility of clucking like a chicken or leaving honey on one’s face, the poem’s form remains composed and put together—it does not look like it is falling apart. In this sense, the form mimics the buttoned-up speaker, who wishes they could loosen up a bit.