fickle fruit (symbol)
The fickle fruit is a symbol of good things just out of reach. It is an example of God's inscrutable—yet seemingly cruel—behavior.
the mole (symbol)
The mole may symbolize human beings’ limited comprehension of God. The mole is blind thus it cannot see anything. Similarly, human beings are blinded in that they cannot scrutinize the actions of God.
punishment (motif)
The mole, human beings with their mortal bodies, Tantalus, and Sisyphus are all described as facing hardship due to God’s inscrutable decisions. By extension, the poem suggests that to be a poet and black is another form of God’s mysterious yet often harsh decisions.
stair (symbol)
The stair symbolizes the never-ending struggle that a person must go through as long as he or she is living. In the same way that Sisyphus struggles through the never-ending stair, human beings face seemingly never-ending difficulties.
