Countee Cullen is a prominent African American poet in the 1920s who struggles to reconcile his formal western European education with the expectations of the Harlem Renaissance. Raised by an influential Harlem pastor, he seeks to be recognized simply as a poet rather than exclusively as a Black poet. He masks his deep internal conflict regarding his bisexuality and the sacrifices required to survive in both the white literary establishment and his own community.

John Gaston Edgar is an amateur poet and presumed former boyfriend of Countee Cullen during the early 1920s. Very little is documented about his life outside of his connection to Cullen. He is symbolically represented in the poem by the moth that clings to the box of buried dreams, which signifies a lingering and bittersweet attachment that has ultimately come to an end.

Reverend Frederick A. Cullen is an influential and charismatic pastor of Harlem’s largest congregation. He later serves as the president of the Harlem chapter of the NAACP. As an invested father figure, he provides young Countee with guidance and access to the flourishing intellectual gatherings of the neighborhood.

Nina DuBois is the daughter of a prominent African American intellectual leader. Her high-profile marriage to Countee Cullen cements his fame within the community, though their relationship quickly deteriorates due to Cullen's internal conflicts regarding his sexuality.

W. E. B. DuBois is a prominent intellectual leader who socializes with members of the white literary establishment. His presence at early Harlem gatherings helps open doors for younger artists to reach wider audiences. He becomes connected to Cullen directly through his daughter's marriage.

Langston Hughes is a luminary of the Harlem Renaissance and a contemporary of Cullen. Unlike Cullen's conservative adherence to European meter, Hughes represents the avant-garde. He freely incorporates the rhythms of jazz and the blues into his verse, an approach Cullen publicly cautions against.

Claude McKay is a contemporary Harlem Renaissance poet. Like Cullen, McKay utilizes traditional European poetic forms, such as the sonnet, to express his artistic vision. This provides a parallel to Cullen's own conservative technical approach to poetry.

Georgia Douglas Johnson is a prominent poet whose home serves as an important gathering space for artists and writers. She writes "My Little Dreams," a poem that shares a striking similarity in sentiment to Cullen's work by detailing the act of hiding dreams away.