“Burning the Old Year” is written in free verse—meaning it does not employ a definitive rhyme scheme or meter—but it contains a rhythmic quality when read. The poem contains four stanzas with 15 lines total. The stanzas vary in line length and amount of lines in each. Nye makes use of enjambment: Her lines do not end with terminal punctuation and the ideas run over onto the next line.

Despite the poem containing no formal verse or meter, it has a musical quality achieved through the use of literary devices. Her personification, onomatopoeias, figurative language, and rich imagery combine to create a rhythmic poem. Specific use of verbiage and syntax, how she structures her lines, both aid in this.

Figurative language goes beyond the literal meaning of the written text to convey a message. Nye uses figurative language throughout “Burning the Old Year” to convey the poem’s central themes; she uses personification, simile, and imagery to create a poem that merges the concrete with the abstract.