Typography alone in "The Carnival of Venice" does not have a significant effect, but when combined with rhyme and meter; Harwood uses the whole structure of the poem to act as a parallel to society. This technique is also applied to "Long after Heine." The indented and the unindented lines are constant throughout both poems and when seen by the reader it presents a sense of flow and change. However, the strict lyrical meter and the constant a b c b rhyming scheme constrains the flow. This represents the change of women's roles as time progresses but Harwood makes a point of restricting this change with the meter suggesting that women will always identified themselves by how society identifies them and in that sense, they are restrained to a society's expectations. Another gendered reading could suggest that the change was metaphorical. An example would be the feminist movement of the sixties which is seen through the flow of the lines representing change. The bra burning during this era symbolised new found freedom and independence. However, many women were still restricted to the domestic domain which is represented by the strict rhyme and meter. In "Long after Heine," there is also a special significance of the rhyme and meter. Heinrich Heine, a German poet in the late nineteenth century whose name is referred to in the title, was against the ideas set by the ruling power of society. By mimicking Heine's distinctive rhyming scheme and meter and using his name in the title, Harwood shows the irony that in fact, not much has changed because women are still defined by society even though it is written "long after Heine." .
The use of figurative language in "The Carnival of Venice" shows the construction of gender in society. Binary oppositions of night and day have always been associated with female vs. male respectively. The night was always perceived as the female's domain whereas the day belonged to the man.
