Point of View

This poem is written as a monologue, meaning that it is written in both first and second person point-of-view. There is a clear narratorial voice (the “midnight woman” of the title), who occasionally uses first-person pronouns to indicate that she is the one speaking and acting throughout the poem. First person appears particularly in declarative statements, like “I’ll see you grunt under de law” or “I’ll lib to fe see dem tu’n you out” (4, 7). These statements indicate the speaker’s perspective as one of confidence and power.

Traditionally, the use of first person allows insight into the speaker’s thoughts, feelings, and motivations. Here, though, that is limited. The only thing the speaker really tells readers about herself is where she was born. She repeats three times that she is a native of Spanish Town: that she was born beneath the clock...