The narrator of the poem is a first-generation immigrant from a picturesque island, currently living in the cold, oppressive environment of New York City. He experiences profound homesickness and feels emotionally marooned between two worlds. Relying on the consolation of his imagination, he contrasts the dreary reality of his urban life with the vivid, joyful memories of his island home.

A lonely youth rushes through the gray streets of New York at dawn. He hums a recent ditty to keep himself company in the sprawling, impersonal metropolis. For the speaker, the newsboy epitomizes the isolating, urgent reality of the modern city. He stands in sharp contrast to the organic wonder of the island.

The working-class residents of New York City reluctantly begin their daily routines before the sun fully rises. Described as sadly shuffling rather than walking, they appear almost like zombies pulled from their beds by the harsh dawn. They represent the dehumanizing, monotonous grind of the urban industrial environment.

A shaggy goat lives on the speaker's native island. She represents the uncomplicated, vivid energy of the Caribbean world. Unburdened by the existential dread of the city, she acts as a natural part of a joyous environment that stretches down to a falling hill-stream.

A beloved animal on the speaker's home island whose loud braying contributes to the vibrant morning cacophony. Along with the other livestock, his spirited noises hail the start of a new day. His morning routine offers a feeling of wistful joy that sharply contrasts with the grumbling machinery of the city.

A working horse from the speaker's island home. Unlike the mechanical, moaning cars of New York, the horse's morning sounds represent the organic, cyclic energy of the natural world. He physically embodies the life-affirming atmosphere of the island dawn.

A cow kept on the island estate adds her lowing to the chorus of livestock at dawn. She serves as part of the vivid, sensory memory the speaker uses as a psychological refuge from the coldness of the city.

The roosters on the speaker's native island actively hail the start of the new day. Their repetitive crowing initiates the vivid cacophony of animal sounds that bring the island morning to life. This noise contrasts sharply with the dull, mechanical sounds of the city.

The chickens roost in the rose-apple tree on the speaker's island home. They add their cackling to the chorus of the morning. They provide a specific, colorful detail that grounds the speaker's memory in the physical reality of the island.