The speaker is the narrator of the poem and the older brother of Seth. He guides the progression of the poem's stream-of-consciousness narrative, jumping between different winter scenes. He possesses a dark, macabre imagination, attempting to shape his younger brother's worldview with a disturbing, illogical story about angels being shot. Despite his grim storytelling, he also engages in quiet, mature activities, such as shoveling snow in silence alongside a neighbor.

Seth is the speaker's younger brother. He acts as the listener for his brother's dark tale about angels being shot out of the sky. He views the world through a whimsical, literal lens, asking logical questions about property rights rather than questioning the horrific nature of the violence in the story. He exists in a state of oblivious innocence, entirely untouched by his older brother's morbid fascinations.

An unnamed individual who lives near the speaker. The neighbor works alongside the speaker to shovel snow during an ongoing storm. Their interaction is marked by silence and mutual respect, standing in sharp contrast to the hierarchical and verbally dark relationship the speaker shares with his younger brother.

A fictional figure in the speaker's story told to Seth. The farmer ruthlessly shoots angels out of the sky simply because they land on his property. He acts as a symbol of senseless human violence and hostility, demonstrating a vicious cruelty that completely disregards logic or morality.

Divine, pure figures in the speaker's fabricated story who fall from heaven. They are violently shot by a farmer and dissolve upon hitting the ground. They symbolize purity and the extreme vulnerability of innocence when faced with cruelty or the dark realities of the world.