“My Love Sent Me a List” is a sonnet; however, Davis does not follow the traditional rules of a sonnet. She manipulates the syllable count, the meter, and the rhyme scheme for her own purposes. Ultimately, even though the poem has 14 lines and does have some lines in iambic pentameter, it feels more like free verse than formal poetry. Some of the rhymes utilize internal assonance (“And left, none-the-less” [Line 14]), and many utilize repeated consonance, such as in this section:

Lingual ………………………………...

More: physical, artistic, musical,

Politic(al) academic (I dare say!) social

(In many ways!) and (ditto!) sexual! (Lines 9-12)

In addition to the repeating “l” and “c” sounds in those lines, there is even more internal assonance with the repetition of “i” and “o” sounds.

Alliteration also pops up in other lines, such as Line 1 (“O my Love sent me a lusty list”) and Lines 5-6 (“...way the way(s) / In which he was…”).

The use of alliteration, repetition, and internal rhyme add to the poetic, melodic feel of the poem, yet Davis does not constrain herself entirely in form.