In the first stanza, the speaker is in a boat at sea beneath the half-moon noticing the way the little waves move: in fiery ringlets from their sleep. The image of fiery ringlets can be seen in our mind; therefore this is an example of imagery. The speaker's lantern shines on the little waves, making them seem fiery, and fire is often seen as a symbol or representation of passion and love. Colors also help create imagery, and Browning mentions gray, black, and yellow in the first stanza to help create images in the reader's mind. Another example of imagery is when the speaker comes ashore by mentioning the prow or the nose of the boat above the water. He gets closer and closer to the cove until he arrives in the slushy sand. We can imagine the slushy sand, and this uses our sense of touch, since we know what watery sand feels like. Because this detail uses one of our senses, it is called a sensory detail.
In the second stanza, he mentions the sea-scented beach, which ties to our sense of smell, reminding us of the smell of the salty air by the beach. The speaker goes on to describe how he travels on the beach then through fields where he arrives at a farm and taps on the window, mentioning a quick sharp scratch, which we can almost hear by reading those words. A blue spurt of a lighted match is clearly seen by mentioning the color blue, and an excited though startled voice is heard, which is said to be softer than their beating hearts. If this poem is indeed about Elizabeth Barrett, which historians assume, the mention of fear could be hinting at the fact that Elizabeth's father, who disliked Robert Browning, could find out about this secretive meeting. The poem conveys their stealthy secrecy through details such as: the poem is set at night, the speaker travels alone, he taps at her window pane, and she quietly speaks to him.
Not only does Browning use symbolism, imagery and powerful sensory details, but he also uses the rhyme scheme or rhyming pattern of ABCCBA ABCCBA. Look back at the poem and notice how the first and last lines of each stanza rhyme together: land with sand in the first stanza and beach with each in the second stanza. The second and fifth lines in each stanza rhyme together too, which further enclose the two middle lines, which rhyme with each other: leap with sleep in the first stanza and scratch with match in the second stanza. This rhyme scheme creates an interesting rhythmic flow that seems to sway the reader back and forth, much like the rhythm of the waves mentioned in the beginning of the poem.