Dividing soul and race draws attention to the question: why divide them? Harper attempts to show a divide, but while this verse takes you away from the theme for a brief moment Harper will draw you in by showing you that a race cannot be soulless when singing old slave hems. “Memories of modal songs”. Harper depicts a strong young musician who finds his soul in the arms of oppression. Using metaphors that bring each word to life, Harper shares remorse with the reader as she describes the expectations of three idols in the African American community through a more relatable way. form that is music. As a reader you put yourself on a train that, to continue into the future, gives hope until we remember the loss of our own