Hayden’s Way

Hayden’s Way

Robert Hayden was a man who worked with what he had instead of dreaming of what he does not have. Pursuing what he loves to do even when people would put him down or not acknowledge him. Being an African American poet was not easy during Hayden’s lifetime, being born in 1913, integration was not something people were excited about. After some hard times and hard work, he was able to prove himself to the poetic community, "Robert Hayden is now generally accepted as the most outstanding craftsman of Afro-American poetry" (Glaysher). It wasn’t an easy task for him to accomplish, with his work being quite rare of having a common topic of African American history and hardships. But Hayden wasn’t looking to be known as an African American poet, he wanted to be known as a poet in general, no labels. He had talent and he didn’t want his race to thwart him from getting to where he wanted to be. Robert Earl Hayden was a man who had some hardships throughout his life just like every other man in the world. Born in 1913, he grew up writing in the Modernism era; with his unique writing style that his poetry possesses, there is no question which era his works fit under. Hayden focuses on African American influences in his work and things pertaining to their difficult past and moving forward. When Hayden would write his poems, he did so in a way different from any other poet of his time. During the Modernism era, experimenting with diverse things was a common thing to do.

Poets wanted to be known for their unique style and way of writing, giving themselves more of an edge over other poets, to stand out. That is what the Modernism era was all about, poets giving their work more of themselves. Robert Hayden wrote most...

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