POETRY

POETRY OF ROBERT HAYDEN

An examination of the poetry of Robert Hayden in Light of the Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh by Duane L. Herrmann, (extracts)

U.S.A. Robert Hayden was born in Detroit, Michigan in 1913. His early life was marked by the poverty and deprivation common to any non-white person growing up in the United States in the 1920s and 30s. Not only was day-to-day living an economic and emotional struggle for the family, but Hayden's own poor eyesight kept him from participating in neighborhood activities with the other children. It was an added agony to his life. He sought refuge in the world of books. He taught himself to read before entering public school and kept on reading.

One of the highest honors was his appointment, not once, but twice, as Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress of the United States. His terms extended from 1976-78.

He was the first Black American to receive this honor. In 1985 this position was renamed "Poet Laureate of the United States," to more clearly reflect the honor it bestowed. So Robert Hayden was in effect Poet Laureate of his country, a long way indeed from the ghetto of Detroit. Hayden became Bahá'í, he said, for several reasons: the belief in progressive revelation; the belief that the Bahá'í teachings could effect the relationship between religious thought and scientific discovery necessary to a unified physical and metaphysical outlook; and, most important, the belief, in the transcendentalist principle of universal brotherhood. (Pontheolla T. Williams, Robert Hayden: A Critical Analysis of His Poetry, (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1978), p. 26.)

In 1943 he made the decision and formally entered the Bahá'í community. This decision did not appear to immediately influence the poetry he wrote. Even years later he did not consider it to have had much effect, but upon reflection, he concluded that it must have, "I realize it has given me a base, a focus." (Robert Hayden, 'From the Life: Some remembrances,' unpublished autobiographical notes, Hayden Papers, Bahá'í National Archives, pp. 15-16.)

Source http://bahai-library.com/bafa/hayden.htm


Following poems by Robert Hayden posted by Mike Day from Haifa 25 Jan 2005

POEMS

Bahá’u’lláh in the Garden of Ridwan
Agonies confirm His hour,
and swords like compass-needles turn
toward His heart.

The midnight air is forested
with presences that shelter Him
and sheltering praise

The auroral darkness which is God
and sing the word made flesh again
in Him,

Eternal exile whose return
epiphanies repeatedly
foretell.

He watches in a borrowed garden,
prays. And sleepers toss upon
their armored beds,

Half-roused by golden knocking at
the doors of consciousness. Energies
like angels dance

Glorias of recognition.
Within the rock the undiscovered suns
release their light.


And all the atoms cry aloud
I bear Him witness now
Who by the light of suns beyond the sun beyond
the sun with shrill pen

revealed renewal of
the covenant of timelessness with time, proclaimed
advent of splendor joy

alone can comprehend
and the imperious evils of an age could not
withstand and stars

and stones and seas
acclaimed—His life its crystal image and
magnetic field.

I bear Him witness now—
mystery Whose major clues are the heart of man,
the mystery of God:

Bahá’u’lláh:
Logos, poet, cosmic hero, surgeon, architect
of our hope of peace,

Wronged, Exiled One,
chosen to endure what agonies of knowledge, what
auroral dark

bestowals of truth
vision power anguish for our future’s sake.
"I was but a man

"like others, asleep upon
My couch, when, lo, the breezes of the All-Glorious
were wafted over Me. . . ."

Called, as in dead of night
a dreamer is roused to help the helpless flee
a burning house.

I bear Him witness now:
toward Him our history in its disastrous quest
for meaning is impelled.

Mike Day sends his regards and this pic from Israel with the mountains of Jordan behind him as he walks in the Negev.

Mike Day

posted by Unknown @ 1/26/2004 10:28:00 pm