How is "night" used as a symbol in the poem, Harlem Shadows?

Night serves as a symbol of difference. Although the titular “shadows” of the poem’s title are never explicitly referenced, the nighttime is one of the poem’s main characters. The nighttime in “Harlem Shadows” signals not only the separation between times of day, but also between social spheres and economies. “The night lets drop its veil,” implying that the city is about to be obscured or difficult to see (2-3). Yet, the very next sentence begins with “I see,” to usher the reader into a new social world. The use of the word “veil” also connotes racial segregation, as W.E.B Du Bois in Souls of Black Folk uses the terms to refer to the separation between the Black and white worlds. Likewise, the framing device of night as a temporal marker also marks a shift into the Black world of Harlem. At the same time, the night is also the bringer of cold, poverty, and work.