Robert Hayden was born a a poor family b Detriot in USA in 1913 and had a difficult childhood beset c eyesight problems. He was raised d part e foster parents and missed a father's caring love. But in the sonnet, which is f a childhood memory, he writes g a father probably his won who is harsh and often angry, but does love his son h his own way. Hayden, a black American, wrote i black experiences and history. He died j 1980.