The sun universally represents time, the rise and set of sun symbolizing the beginning and ending of each day, days leading into months, years, and lifetimes. Hope and the fresh start were halted by the sun, who was not ready to let time pass and continue. The poem is put into a clear context at the end by way of historical allusion. Ante-bellum refers to the period before the Emancipation Proclamation, in which slaves were common and legal, before the Civil War and Civil Rights Movement. Finally at the end of the poem the historical allusion brings the poem to a complete closure, and the theme of starting fresh is put into a more specific context.
Today is yet to come in Arkansas.
Reading Angelou's poem shows the reader a new perspective on civil rights and its applicability in society. The use of general symbolism found in nature through the weak poplar tree hindered by moss and the cautious sun, paired with the historical allusion to the ante-bellum times make the theme of the poem clear. The past cannot be forgotten, and may hinder the future.