Speaker or Narrator, and Point of View
The poem is told from a third-person point of view. The speaker does not appear or identify themselves in the poem. Their voice is characterized by a rich use of natural imagery and a clear affection for the couple they are describing.
Form and Meter
The poem consists of four quatrains with an ABAB rhyme scheme. The poem is written in ballad meter, alternating lines of iambic trimeter and tetrameter.
Metaphors and Similes
The speaker uses metaphors to compare the two men to "the golden splendor of the day" and "the sable pride of night" as well as the simile "lightning brilliant as a sword."
Alliteration and Assonance
There is alliteration in the B and F sounds of the line "The black boy and the white," and "And here the fair folk talk."
Irony
N/A
Genre
Love poetry, ballad
Setting
The poem is set in an undetermined location. It is implied to be a city given the number of observers on the street.
Tone
Triumphant
Protagonist and Antagonist
The protagonists of the poem are the two men in an interracial relationship. The antagonists are the judgmental onlookers.
Major Conflict
The major conflict of the poem is the tension between the onlookers' indignation and the couple's pride in their relationship.
Climax
The climax of the poem occurs when the two men ignore their observers.
Foreshadowing
N/A
Understatement
N/A
Allusions
N/A
Metonymy and Synecdoche
N/A
Personification
N/A
Hyperbole
"The golden splendor of the day" is a hyperbolic description of daylight.
Onomatopoeia
N/A
