Billy Collins’s “The Death of the Hat”
May 12th, 2007Save as PDF
The images in this wonderful poem are so strong, you may never be able to look at a man in a hat, especially a man in a hat in a grainy old black-and-white photo or movie — without thinking of Billy Collins’s words. Without eulogizing the hat, Collins makes it represent a whole world of loss — lost values, lost innocence, not to mention lost style. Which came first — the "greatest generation" or the hat? And when JFK killed off the hat by going bareheaded to his 1961 inauguration, did something else die as well?
The Death of the Hat
Once every man wore a hat.
In the ashen newsreels,
the avenues of cities
are broad rivers flowing with hats.
The ballparks swelled
with thousands of strawhats.
Brims and bands,
rows of men smoking
and cheering in shirtsleeves.
Hats were the law.
They went without saying.
You noticed a man without a hat in a crowd.
You bought them from Adams or Dobbs
who branded your initials in gold
on the inside band.
Trolleys crisscrossed the city.
Steamships sailed in and out of the harbor.
Men with hats gathered on the docks.
There was a person to block your hat
and a hatcheck girl to mind it
while you had a drink
or ate a steak with peas and a baked potato.
In your office stood a hat rack.
The day war was declared
everyone in the street was wearing a hat.
And they were wearing hats
when a ship loaded with men sank in the icy sea.
My father wore one to work every day
and returned home
carrying the evening paper,
the winter chill radiating from his overcoat.
But today we go bareheaded
into the winter streets,
stand hatless on frozen platforms.
Today the mailboxes on the roadside
and the spruce trees behind the house
wear cold white hats of snow.
Mice scurry from the stone walls at night
In their thin fur hats
to eat the birdseed that has spilled.
And now my father, after a life of work,
wears a hat of earth,
and on top of that,
a lighter one of cloud and sky – a hat of wind.
May 13th, 2007 at 7:15 am e
;) And, if you were bald, as my father, you surely wore a hat. And he was quite pleased when golf hats became fashion as he could wear these on the weekend.
May 16th, 2007 at 10:42 am e
A terrific poem. Thanks, John.
Does anyone (besides me) remember a phenomena known as “straw hat day”? This was, if my recollection serves me correctly, a Monday several weeks following Labor Day after which it was no longer acceptable to wear a straw hat. Or was “straw hat day” was a day in May or June, only after which it was acceptable to wear a straw hat? I guess that my memory is not serving me so well. In any event, I do think that all men switched over from felt to straw (and visa versa) at pretty much the same time.
May 29th, 2008 at 5:10 pm e
July 22nd, 2011 at 1:31 am e
Hello! gkddfdd interesting gkddfdd site!
August 13th, 2011 at 5:48 am e
Umm, are you really just giving this info out for nthoing?
August 15th, 2011 at 10:43 am e
8KdLoi xhhdlrwostxw
August 22nd, 2011 at 2:24 pm e
I just read through the entire comment of yours and it was quite good. Peña de Apuestas de Quiniela. This is a great article thanks for sharing this useful information.
September 2nd, 2011 at 1:10 am e
Useful job about this post. Literally looks better in comparison with the last handful. Hold it high.
http://www.yvonnemusic.com/if-you-need-to-get-fast-cash-98112.html
September 24th, 2011 at 2:51 am e
Hello my name is nhl jerseys and I really liked your page, it’s kind of link http://www.macrojerseys.com/category-324-b0-NFL-JERSEY.html in a sense.
http://www.macrojerseys.com/category-324-b0-NFL-JERSEY.html
September 24th, 2011 at 4:21 pm e
Nice one, would you mind if I use some of this text on my website?
October 17th, 2011 at 1:18 pm e
iphone 3g cases
October 25th, 2011 at 12:46 pm e
This can be any sensible blog. I imply it. You have so much understanding about it issue, and so much passion. You also understand how to produce women and men rally behind it, of course through this responses. Youve acquired a styling here thats not as well flashy, but tends to produce a statement as huge because what youre saying. Great task, in fact.
October 28th, 2011 at 9:45 pm e
Any person listed here is aware of where exactly I am able to find out a few of the brand new business banking and in addition financial facts? Thank you so much
October 30th, 2011 at 11:02 am e
Thank you for such a fantastic blog. Where else could 1 get such facts written in these kinds of an incite full way? I have a presentation that I am just now working on, and I had been trying to find such information.
November 4th, 2011 at 8:05 am e
I’m planning to create my own blog, and a question comes up to my mind..
November 7th, 2011 at 10:46 pm e
great blog, i will come back soon. Do you have a facebook? y18 k 7
November 10th, 2011 at 4:01 am e
All of these positive aspects will assist you to reduce, and mend accidental injuries, from other physical exercises including the game of golf, playing golf, football, as well as rugby.
November 19th, 2011 at 10:04 am e
Hi there! This is kind of off topic but I need some guidance from an established blog. Is it very hard to set up your own blog? I’m not very techincal but I can figure things out pretty fast. I’m thinking about setting up my own but I’m not sure where to begin. Do you have any tips or suggestions? Appreciate it
November 27th, 2011 at 11:36 am e
Beneficial info! I have been looking for something such as this for a time now. With thanks!
December 4th, 2011 at 8:01 am e
If you are involved in affiliate marketing, or even if you are not, you might want to take a look at this free video that includes some secret marketing methods that are now being used by top affiliates after the Google Panda update. As a side note, they are also selling a product and if you happen to be interested in it, just close the page with the video, then it will ask if you want to stay on the page for a special offer. Click to stay on the page. Then close the page again, it will once again ask if you would like to stay on the page for a special offer and this time, if you choose to stay on the page, it will offer you a 25% discount on that product. Here is the link to the video: http://goo.gl/CEHSx
December 18th, 2011 at 10:19 pm e
You could definitely see your enthusiasm in the work you write. The world hopes for more passionate writers like you who are not afraid to say how they believe. Always go after your heart.
December 20th, 2011 at 5:28 am e
I am extremely inspired together with your writing skills as well as with the structure for your weblog. Is that this a paid subject matter or did you customize it your self? Either way keep up the excellent high quality writing, it is uncommon to look a great blog like this one nowadays..
January 2nd, 2012 at 2:21 pm e
Hello! I just would like to give a huge thumbs up for the great info you have here on this post. I will be coming back to The Millennial Pedestrian » Blog Archive » Billy Collins’s “The Death of the Hat” for more soon.
January 3rd, 2012 at 12:59 pm e
hi!,I love your writing very so much! share we keep up a correspondence extra about your article on AOL? I need a specialist in this house to resolve my problem. May be that’s you! Looking ahead to look you.
January 20th, 2012 at 5:25 pm e
Hello, is your hosting company having any issues recently? I had to refresh the web page about six times till the 503 error went away and I was able to read this post!
January 26th, 2012 at 9:11 am e
This will be a terrific site, would you be involved in doing an interview about just how you designed it? If so e-mail me!
January 27th, 2012 at 12:42 pm e
Great Post. I like your style of writing. I think you should use your awesome writing style to get paid. Me and my husband are using this course http://hopclicks.com/respectmoney to improve our earning from writing articles. You should try this out.
January 28th, 2012 at 10:09 pm e
I just wanted to give a big thank you to all the wonderful people I have met in the last few weeks - a lot of us are working together and profiting very nicely =). If you missed the boat don’t worry, you can still learn how we’re making $200-$900 per day using http://Instant-Weekly-Income.info with private coaching and all that. When you’re in, just shoot me a message and I’ll be happy to add you to our group. Cheers!!