O Daedalus, Fly Away Home

by Robert Hayden
Drifting night in the Georgia pines,
coonskin drum and jubilee banjo.
Pretty Malinda, dance with me.

Night is juba, night is congo.
Pretty Malinda, dance with me.

Night is an African juju man
weaving a wish and a weariness together
to make two wings.

O fly away home fly away

Do you remember Africa?

O cleave the air fly away home

My gran, he flew back to Africa,
just spread his arms and
flew away home.

Drifting night in the windy pines;
night is laughing, night is a longing.
Pretty Malinda, come to me.

Night is a mourning juju man
weaving a wish and a weariness together
to make two wings.

O fly away home fly away

This poem is a somewhat free-verse poem written by Robert Hayden. The poem is a African-American man's nostalgia for his homeland in Africa, and his discontent with America. The wish of the man is to "fly away home" to Africa, as he believes that Africa is his true home. He reminisces while listening to music and watching a girl dance. This poem is African-American folk themed, like many of its kind.
Hayden utilizes many literary devices in this poem. First, there is imagery in the first two lines, as Hayden describes the instruments and the setting (Georgia pines).
Hayden uses several metaphors to describe the word "night", such as "night is congo", in succession, as well as alliteration (weaving, wish, weariness, wings). Lines are often repeated.
There is some strong allusion and symbolism in this poem. The juju man is an allusion to African religion, and his "flying gran" is a reference to one whom the author wants to be like, one who flies away to Africa to escape slavery. This ties into the allusion of the title, "Daedalus", who, in Greek legend, invents wings and flies away to escape confinement.