How does the poem's structure create a sense of urgency? Each stanza contrasts the energy of the river with the dullsameness of the lake, inlet, and
ocean
The descriptions in each stanza progress from the calm of the lake and inlet to the tumult of
the ocean.
Each stanza relays the river's journey through the lake, inlet, and ocean and ends with its
return to the same mountain home from which it began.
The descriptions in each stanza reveal the river's desire to escape the confinement of the lake
and inlet and to reach the freedom of the ocean.