The Poetry of Robert Hayden Essay -- Poetry Analysis

Although the majority of Robert Hayden's writings address racial themes and depicts events in African-American history, he also wrote short poems that capture his own personal experiences. Hayden has an enormous amount of great poems and short stories, but as I read through many of them, I was touched by two specific poems that I felt I could personally relate to. I chose these poems because I am able to put myself into the story-line and understand what the writer is talking about. I believe that a good writer is able to reach any reader regardless of race, gender, or age. Hayden possessed an incredible skill with his language and the structures of his poems that could almost pull the reader right out of their chair and place them in the center of his writings. Robert Hayden was born Asa Bundy Sheffey on August 4, 1913 in Detroit, Michigan. His mother left him in the care of his neighbors, William and Sue Ellen Hayden, when he was just eighteen months old while she left for New York. The Haydens never legally adopted Robert but they rechristened him as Robert Hayden and took care of him as if he had been their own child. Hayden attended Detroit City College and Michigan University. During his time at Michigan, Hayden was able to continue his lifelong interest in writing and acting. The most important part of this time was that he had the opportunity to study with W.H. Auden. Auden at the time was a visiting professor who spent time reading some of Hayden's works and giving him suggestions and valuable criticisms. Hayden credited Auden for helping him develop his own personal style in writing. After he graduated in 1944 he started his career as an instructor of literature, and Frisk University and then at t... ...d the research on this paper it almost made me dislike poetry more than I already had. I think that poems mean something different to each person. No two people will ever feel the exact same way about a certain poem. When I read the criticisms I disagreed with practically every single one. I don't know why one persons' opinion of a poem is so important that it is published. It makes reading poetry seem more like a chore and makes it hard for me to enjoy. If I read poetry it's because it has touched me in one way or another. To have somebody break it down differently than I would have changes the meaning of it for me. Everybody is entitled to have their own opinion but unless it is the actually writer of the poem explaining how he felt as he wrote this, no else will ever know for sure what he was thinking. The enjoyment comes from opening your mind and losing yourself.