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Longfellow’s poem has a strict rhyme scheme in which each stanza follows the same pattern: AABBA. All the A rhymes across the entire poem rhyme with “falls,” which is the final word of the refrain that opens the poem and closes each of its three stanzas. By contrast, the B rhymes change from stanza to stanza. At first glance, Longfellow’s rhyme scheme may appear arbitrary, or perhaps just vaguely traditional. However, closer attention reveals a significant logic. The secret lies in the B lines. Each BB couplet conveys information about the mysterious traveler. In the first stanza, the couplet introduces the traveler (lines 3–4):

     Along the sea-sands damp and brown
     The traveller hastens toward the town

In the second stanza, the couplet describes how the waves erase the traveler’s footsteps (lines 8–9):

     The little waves, with their soft, white hands,
     Efface the footprints in the sands

Finally, in the third stanza, the couplet relates the traveler’s disappearance (lines 13–14):

     The day returns, but nevermore
     Returns the traveler to the shore

By contrast, all the A lines in the poem convey information about the setting: the sea, the shore, the village, and the stable. Just as the sea continues forever in its ceaseless shift between rising and falling tides, so too to the A rhymes remain predictable throughout the whole poem. Only the B rhymes change, reflecting the uniqueness of each “traveler” who passes through.

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