Poe, however, claimed the poem was a combination of
octameter acatalectic,
heptameter catalectic, and
tetrameter catalectic. The
rhyme scheme is ABCBBB, or AA,B,CC,CB,B,B when accounting for
internal rhyme. In every stanza, the "B" lines rhyme with the word "nevermore" and are catalectic, placing extra emphasis on the final syllable. The poem also makes heavy use of
alliteration ("Doubting, dreaming dreams..."). Twentieth-century American poet
Daniel Hoffman suggested that the poem's structure and meter is so formulaic that it is artificial, though its mesmeric quality overrides that.