Once I have written an initial poetic sketch, I find it useful to reduce each stanza to a straightforward line. This provides a concrete reference point for the content of the verses and keeps the theme of the poem in focus. When “A Rhebok!” is considered in this way, the two stanzas bluntly abstract to: I saw an antelope—and it ran away! 

The essence of a poem is its theme (what it is expressing) and style (how it is expressed). In a successful work, these are integrated to form a coherent whole (in a masterpiece, they are transcendent). Usually, I find the theme determines the style.

In the “A Rhebok!” sketch, for example, the theme—wonder (mine at the sight of a wild animal) and panic (the creature’s at the sight of a person)—necessitates an animated style: simple words and short lines that evoke (its) alarm and (my) delight.