Not only does this introduce the story, as the character description does, but it also contributes to an ironic ending.
Once Randall introduces the poem in the first four stanzas by establishing characters and the setting, there is a shift in the fifth stanza from the characters speaking to a narrator. This is significant because when this transition occurs, the narrator use very vivid imagery to create a clear picture of the daughter as she gets ready for church. Throughout the stanza the young girl is described as very childlike and innocent, there is also a reoccurrence of religious undertones. The following line of the poem is an example of this, "And bathed in rose petal sweet." This idea of bathing is very central to being pure, innocent and clean. The picture of baptism comes to mind as she "bathed" away any uncleanness. Not only the fact that she "bathed" is significant but also that it was with "rose petal sweet." This is very childlike, very much something a small little girl would do. Purity is presented again in the stanza when the girl's "white gloves" and "white shoes" are described. The color white is also used symbolically in different religions to signify innocence. The fact that the young girl is a child is reiterated again when the word "small" is used to describe her. Images of tiny hands comes to mind and can represent a little girl who is untainted and inexperienced with so much of her life ahead of her.
Purity and cleanliness are not the only images presented by the narrator. Contrasting images are present as well. There is an underlying message in this stanza that although she is young and undeserving of what happens to her, she is still discriminated against based on her color. The color white is contrasted sharply with her "night-dark hair" and her "brown hands" In the poem, these direct references to the color of her hair and skin are present even though she is an innocent child.
