Robert Hayden was an American poet born in 1913 in Detroit. He was the first African American to be appointed as Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress. A Ballad of Remembrance is one of his most important collections. It won the grand prize at the First World Festival of Negro Arts in Dakar, Senegal.
‘Night, Death, Mississippi’ by Robert Hayden is a historical narrative told mostly from the perspective of a Klansman. In the poem, the Klansman lauds his son for lynching black men while telling of the days he himself participated in the perpetration of racial violence.
Then we beat them, he said,
beat them till our arms was tired
and the big old chains
messy and red.
‘Frederick Douglass’ by Robert Hayden honors Douglass and speaks about a future in which all people, according to Douglass’ ideas of love and logic, will be treated equally without question.
‘Middle Passage’ by Robert Hayden is a narrative poem written in the 1940s. It describes the happenings of the Atlantic Slave Trade, as told from the perspective of several white narrators.
‘Mourning Poem for the Queen of Sunday’ by Robert Hayden explores the death of a gospel singer who was loved by all, including God. She passed away in a surprising way that made the angels weep.Â
‘Those Winter Sundays’ by Robert Hayden is a three-stanza work where the sections vary in length, though the theme remains from start to finish.
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