Night, Death, Mississippi

[Stargazer86]

I recently found this poem by Robert Hayden. I found it disturbing, sick, and very interesting all at the same time. This poem just really stuck to me and I was interested in reading others' thoughts on it, so I thought I'd post it here and open up a discussion regarding this poem and the influence it must have had on certain people.
I know virtually nothing on Robert Hayden and was wondering what exactly would have inspired him to write something so heart wrenching, eye opening, and certainly controversial for its time.


Night, Death, Mississippi
1
A quavering cry. Screech-owl?
Or one of them?
The old man in his reek
and gauntness laughs --

One of them, I bet --
and turns out the kitchen lamp,
limping to the porch to listen
in the windowless night.

Be there with Boy and the rest
if I was well again.
Time was. Time was.
White robes like moonlight

In the sweetgum dark.
Unbucked that one then
and him squealing bloody Jesus
as we cut it off.

Time was. A cry?
A cry all right.
He hawks and spits,
fevered as by groinfire.

Have us a bottle,
Boy and me --
he's earned him a bottle --
when he gets home.

2
Then we beat them, he said,
beat them till our arms was tired
and the big old chains
messy and red.

O Jesus burning on the lily cross

Christ, it was better
than hunting bear
which don't know why
you want him dead.

O night, rawhead and bloodybones night

You kids fetch Paw
some water now so's he
can wash that blood
off him, she said.

O night betrayed by darkness not its own

[Virgil]

That is incredibly disturbing and powerful. I don't know Hayden either. Here's a wikipedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Hayden. Thanks for sharing Stargazer.

[Stargazer86]

Thanks for the link Virgil :)

You know, for some reason, even despite the content of the poem, I assumed this man was caucasion. It may be because upon seeing the years that he wrote (without having seen a picture) and that he was a successful writer, I just assumed. I kinda feel bad for thinking that. I guess it just goes to show how very racist this country was even through much of the 20th century. That for a man to have been so well educated and successful in the early half of the 20th century, one would assume his race. Ugh.

My god, he sure is a powerful writer. As I mentioned in the initial post, this poem has really been sticking with me today.
I watched O Brother Where Art Thou recently and this poem made me recall the scene where the KKK is having thier crazy ritual dance and are about to murder Tommy. KKK=Kreepy Krazy Killers Disgusting to think how large and well organized the group is and the horrors with which they have gotten away. It's writings like these that really evoke a strong emotion about the situation and put a face on it. It really was not so far off in American history

[JBI]

That is incredibly disturbing and powerful. I don't know Hayden either. Here's a wikipedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Hayden. Thanks for sharing Stargazer.

Really, you don't know Hayden? He's actually quite famous.

I think the poem speaks directly to the dark, sort of savage nature of nighttime in the American south. The reference to white robes seem explicit, and the poem reaches back into the racist past of the nation, and toward the darker aspects of human psychology. In ways, it is reminiscent of Gothic modes which were used by Faulkner.

The dominant image though, that of the night is perhaps the most striking. The ritualistic night entertainment is, as he put it, "betrayed by darkness not its own", using the darkness of the night to symbolize the darkness of the acts, and the darkness of the psychology and history of the region.

Another striking voice of the poem is that of the unnamed woman, who I would argue represents the inversion of conventional-female traits:

You kids fetch Paw
some water now so's he
can wash that blood
off him, she said.

Though perhaps not doing the beating, she is, in a sense, a part of the beating, and somehow, not innocent, and not ashamed or against it. The whole night is enveloped in this sort of hatred, with Male brutality toward the black person, facilitated by their children and wives.

[Stargazer86]

I thank you for that insight JBI. I hadn't thought about the woman as you pointed out. Its sad really how commonplace and accepted this type of behavior was in the deep south. Even if the acts were carried out under the blanket of the night, it obviously was open and known to wives and children alike. And so the cycle continues....a child reared in that kind of environment would be desensitized and eventually partake. How damaging that must be to the human psyche!
I certainly see the similarity to Faulkner as far as the tone and mood.
Your observation of the last line as well is very moving. Always a pleasure to get your input as you are obviously quite well read and knowlegable

[Virgil]

Thanks JBI about that woman in the poem. No I had not heard of Hayden. My knowledge of post 1970s poets is sketchy.

[quasimodo1]

Robert E. Hayden (1913 - 1980) Robert E. Hayden was the first black poet to be chosen as consultant in poetry to the

Library of Congress, a position described by Thomas W. Ennis of the New York Times as "the American equivalent of the

British poet laureate designation." Hayden's formal, elegant poems about the black historical experience earned him a

number of other major awards as well. "Robert Hayden is now generally accepted," Frederick Glaysher stated in

Hayden's Collected Prose, "as the most outstanding craftsman of Afro-American poetry."

The historical basis for much of Hayden's poetry stemmed from his extensive study of American and black history.

Beginning in the 1930s, when he researched black history for the Federal Writers' Project in his native Detroit,

Hayden studied the story of his people from their roots in Africa to their present condition in the United States.

"History," Charles T. Davis wrote in Modern Black Poets: A Collection of Critical Essays, "has haunted Robert Hayden

from the beginning of his career as a poet." As he once explained to Glenford E. Mitchell of World Order, Hayden saw

history "as a long, tortuous, and often bloody process of becoming, of psychic evolution." --- --- --- ---

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/archive/poet.html?id=3014

[qimissung]

Thank you for posting this, Stargazer. It was fascinating and, as you said, disturbing. I had not heard of Hayden either. I, too, assumed he was Caucasian, but not because I thought he was better educated. I just thought it was a white man writing about a white man's experience. I like to think that we white people can manage to look unflinchingly at our prejudices.

It made me think of "Eyes on the Prize" the excellent documentary of the Civil Rights movement in America, and especially of the lynching of 14-year old Emmett Till, who was dragged from his bed in the middle of the night and killed because he whistled at a white woman.

His battered face is the opening scene of the "Eyes on the Prize."

[Stargazer86]

Thank you for posting this, Stargazer. It was fascinating and, as you said, disturbing. I had not heard of Hayden either. I, too, assumed he was Caucasian, but not because I thought he was better educated. I just thought it was a white man writing about a white man's experience. I like to think that we white people can manage to look unflinchingly at our prejudices.

It made me think of "Eyes on the Prize" the excellent documentary of the Civil Rights movement in America, and especially of the lynching of 14-year old Emmett Till, who was dragged from his bed in the middle of the night and killed because he whistled at a white woman.

His battered face is the opening scene of the "Eyes on the Prize."

Perhaps I worded that wrong...I was having trouble explaining my meaning without coming off like that. Upon reading the poem, its obvious that he has some very close knowledge about this horrendous lifestyle.

I'll have to check out that documentary. I do think its important to continue to be aware of this ugly chapter in American history that lasted so long and ended only fairly recently. I feel its important for my kids to have an understanding of this. Please tell me though, did the boy live?

Quasimodo- Thank you for sharing that info. This poem encouraged me to look more into Hayden and his writings. He is quite skilled. His writing is so raw (yet artful) and poignent, one cannot help but be moved in some way or another to it. I don't see how anyone could read Night, Death, Mississippi and not come away with some strong emotion or reaction.