The Rider

“The Rider” is written in free verse; it is nonrhyming and nonmetrical, mimicking the feel of natural speech. In stanza one, the conversational tone fosters a sense of intimacy. Nye uses the device of personification. Though loneliness is a feeling or abstract quality, she gives it human qualities. If one can outrace it, then loneliness is tactile.

In stanza two, we begin to sense the speaker’s affinity with the boy’s loneliness. Outracing loneliness, the speaker muses, “is the best reason I ever heard / for trying to be a champion” (Lines 4 – 5). The first two stanzas are in past tense, though we do not know whether the events occurred in the recent or distant past.

In stanza three, the poem transitions to present tense. This gives the poem a sense of immediacy. The speaker anchors the reader in time with the word “tonight” (Line 6). The speaker bikes down “King William Street” (Line 7), locating us in San Antonio, Texas. The poem shifts from the general to personal. The speaker, too, is lonely. They reveal this when contemplating whether bicycles, like skates, can outrace loneliness.

In the final stanza, the poem shifts to second person: “To leave your loneliness” (Line 9). This extends the poem outward to the reader. Escaping loneliness isn’t something only the boy or speaker can experience; the reader can experience it, too. Loneliness is personified again, “panting behind” (Line 10).

The final stanza begins exuberantly—“A victory!” (Line 9) and ends contemplatively on the image of slowly falling petals. Had the lines been inverted, the tone would feel less reverberating and full. Nye uses economy in language. Instead of saying that azaleas appear suddenly, Nye uses the word “sudden” as a modifier: “[W]hile you float free into a cloud of sudden azaleas” (Line 11).

We learn little about the speaker’s life and never find out what makes them lonely. Instead, the poem uses imagery—“pedaling hard” (Line 7)—and muscular verbs—“panting” (Line 10) to create a mood and sense of urgency.

The azaleas in stanza four represent beauty and freedom. Like loneliness, the petals are personified. The poet gives them human qualities: "[P]ink petals that have never felt loneliness” (Line 12). The fact that they have not felt loneliness implies an internal life and capacity for feeling.

Nye connects the reader to the poem through the word “you.” In stanza four, the poem is no longer exploring the boy’s loneliness or the speaker’s but our loneliness as readers, as individuals partaking in a greater human experience. Nye suggests that the reader can become like the “you” in the poem, joyful and free. The poem fosters a sense of lineage and connection. Through the process of telling, loneliness may be overcome.