By the pale dull pallor of an old gas light
-- Speaker (Line 5)

Importance: This line uses alliteration and consonance to create musicality. “pale dull pallor” uses the repeating P sounds and soft Ls, which are revisited in the closing word to link the entire line together. The word “pallor” also brings to mind the word “parlor” as well as the “pallor” of one’s skin, suggesting a slightly sickly intimacy in the scene.

With his ebony hands on each ivory key / He made that poor piano moan with melody.
-- Speaker (Lines 9-10)

Importance: This line uses juxtaposition to contrast the black and white, as well as the negative “moaning” that becomes a more positive “melody”. The first phrase is one of the few in the poem that uses a rigid, regular metre; “With his ebony hands” follows the same syllabic construction as “On each ivory key”. The parallelism in these phrases highlights the connection between the two...