“The Century Quilt” Introduction

• Read the full text of “The Century Quilt”

“The Century Quilt” Summary

“The Century Quilt” Themes

• 

  Honoring Family and Cultural Heritage

  Where this theme appears in the poem:

  • Lines 1-45

Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “The Century Quilt”

• Lines 1-4

  My sister and ...
  ... Daddy by Supply.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 5-8

  When Meema came ...
  ... I visited her.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 9-12

  I remembered how ...
  ... and princesses.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 13-17

  Now I’ve found ...
  ... of Mama’s cheeks.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 18-20

  Each square holds ...
  ... into the silence.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 21-25

  I think I’d ...
  ... her yellow sisters,

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 26-31

  their grandfather’s white ...
  ... giggled and danced.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 32-35

  She must have ...
  ... his Oklahoma field.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 36-40

  Perhaps under this ...
  ... my mother’s ochre gentleness.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 41-45

  Within the dream ...
  ... pattern of leaves.

  

  

  

  

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“The Century Quilt” Symbols

• 

  The Quilt and Blanket

  Where this symbol appears in the poem:

  • Lines 1-2
  • Lines 5-6
  • Lines 7-8
  • Lines 9-12
  • Lines 13-20
  • Lines 21-27
  • Line 36
  • Lines 44-45

• The Leaves

  Where this symbol appears in the poem:

  • Lines 18-20: “Each square holds a sweet gum leaf / whose fingers I imagine / would caress me into the silence.”
  • Lines 44-45: “I’d call it The Century Quilt, / after its pattern of leaves.”

“The Century Quilt” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

• Imagery

  

  

  

  

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  Where imagery appears in the poem:

  • Lines 15-20: “Six Van Dyke brown squares, / two white ones, and one square / the yellowbrown of Mama’s cheeks. / Each square holds a sweet gum leaf / whose fingers I imagine / would caress me into the silence.”
  • Lines 23-27: “under her blanket, / dreamed she was a girl again in Kentucky / among her yellow sisters, / their grandfather’s white family / nodding at them when they met.”
  • Lines 29-31: “they cranked up the pianola / and all of the beautiful sisters / giggled and danced.”
  • Line 34: “a lanky girl trailing after her father”
  • Lines 39-40: “of my father’s burnt umber pride, / my mother’s ochre gentleness.”
  • Line 45: “after its pattern of leaves.”

• Asyndeton

  

  

  

  

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  Where asyndeton appears in the poem:

  • Lines 9-11: “I remembered how I’d planned to inherit / that blanket, how we used to wrap ourselves / at play in its folds”
  • Lines 24-27: “dreamed she was a girl again in Kentucky / among her yellow sisters, / their grandfather’s white family / nodding at them when they met.”
  • Lines 37-40: “I’d dream of myself, / of my childhood of miracles, / of my father’s burnt umber pride, / my mother’s ochre gentleness.”

• Enjambment

  

  

  

  

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  Where enjambment appears in the poem:

  • Lines 1-2: “love / with”
  • Lines 3-4: “green / issued”
  • Lines 5-6: “us / she”
  • Lines 7-8: “bed / the”
  • Lines 9-10: “inherit / that”
  • Lines 10-11: “ourselves / at”
  • Lines 11-12: “chieftains / and”
  • Lines 13-14: “quilt / I’d”
  • Lines 16-17: “square / the”
  • Lines 18-19: “leaf / whose”
  • Lines 19-20: “imagine / would”
  • Lines 21-22: “dreams / for”
  • Lines 24-25: “Kentucky / among”
  • Lines 26-27: “family / nodding”
  • Lines 28-29: “store / they”
  • Lines 29-30: “pianola / and”
  • Lines 30-31: “sisters / giggled”
  • Lines 32-33: “Mama / when”
  • Lines 34-35: “father / through”
  • Lines 36-37: “quilt / I’d”
  • Lines 41-42: “myself / perhaps”
  • Lines 42-43: “son / or”

• Personification

  

  

  

  

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  Where personification appears in the poem:

  • Lines 18-20: “Each square holds a sweet gum leaf / whose fingers I imagine / would caress me into the silence.”

• Consonance

  

  

  

  

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  Where consonance appears in the poem:

  • Line 10: “wrap”
  • Line 11: “play,” “folds,” “chieftains”
  • Line 12: “princesses”
  • Line 14: “die under”
  • Line 15: “Dyke”
  • Line 16: “white ones,” “one”
  • Line 18: “square,” “sweet,” “leaf”
  • Line 19: “fingers”
  • Line 20: “caress,” “silence”
  • Line 23: “Meema must”
  • Line 34: “lanky girl trailing,” “after,” “father”
  • Line 35: “Oklahoma field”
  • Line 37: “dream,” “myself”
  • Line 38: “my,” “miracles”
  • Line 39: “my,” “burnt umber”
  • Line 40: “my mother’s”
  • Line 41: “dream,” “myself”
  • Line 42: “meet my”
  • Line 44: “call it,” “Century Quilt”

• Repetition

  

  

  

  

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  Where repetition appears in the poem:

  • Line 2: “blanket”
  • Line 7: “blanket”
  • Line 10: “blanket”
  • Line 15: “squares”
  • Line 16: “square”
  • Line 18: “square”
  • Line 21: “dreams”
  • Line 22: “under this quilt”
  • Line 23: “under her blanket”
  • Line 24: “dreamed”
  • Line 32: “dreamed”
  • Line 36: “under this quilt”
  • Line 37: “dream of myself”
  • Lines 38-40: “of my childhood of miracles, / of my father’s burnt umber pride, / my mother’s ochre gentleness.”
  • Line 41: “dream of myself”

“The Century Quilt” Vocabulary

Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.

• Meema
• Supply
• Chieftains
• Van Dyke brown
• Yellowbrown
• Sweet gum leaf
• Caress
• Pianola
• Lanky
• Burnt umber
• Ochre
• Unconceived

• (Location in poem: Line 2: “with Meema’ s Indian blanket.”; Line 5: “When Meema came to live with us”; Line 23: “as Meema must have”)

Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “The Century Quilt”

• Form

• Meter

• Rhyme Scheme

“The Century Quilt” Speaker

“The Century Quilt” Setting

Literary and Historical Context of “The Century Quilt”

More “The Century Quilt” Resources

• External Resources

  • A Conversation with Marilyn Nelson — In this interview, Nelson talks about her journey to becoming a writer, her artistic influences, her family, and more.

  • What Is a Quilt? — A video talking about the history and significance of quilts. 

  • Nelson's Life and Work — A biography of Marilyn Nelson from the Poetry Foundation. 

  • An Interview with Nelson — Lauren K. Alleyne interviews the poet for the summer 2021 issue of The Fight and The Fiddle.