The Century Quilt By Marilyn Waniek

Many families from generations ago to today pass a sentimental inheritance throughout their family line due to the safekeeping of their culture within the families' roots. In the poem “The Century Quilt,” poet Marilyn Waniek, touches upon the beauty of family heritage and the identity of herself. The speaker uses an ample amount of the literary techniques to articulate the complex connotation of the elusive poem. The speaker also composes the poem in order to give thanks to Taylor for the sententious quilt. The speaker illuminates the essence of the quilt through structure, imagery, and tone.

The poem does not exhibit a rhyme scheme, nor does it display any odd stanza breaks. The obvious organization of the poem allowed the poet to add a rather bonding experience for the reader. Although it seems the speaker adds no effort in creating the stanza structure or entertaining elements of the poem, as it is monotonous to add rhythm to a poem consisted of sincere writing, the poet strategically placed each stanza. The speaker begins the poem with introducing her past encounters with the quilt, she describes in her first stanza,“My sister and I were in love/ with

Meema’s Indian blanket…” ( 1-2) and “I remembered how I planned to inherit that blanket…” (lines 9-10). The speaker then quickly shifts into the second stanza and changes the time period, she uses words such as, “Now I have found a quilt” (13), to clarify that she is in present time. In the last stanza, she switches her perspective towards the future by incorporating the words, “Within the dream of myself perhaps I’d meet my son or my other child, as yet unconceived,” exhibiting that these are encounters the speakers foresees to undergo.
Additionally, the poet ends each thought with a period and adds multiple line breaks and commas within the sentence. In poetry, punctuation is eloquent because it magnifies the reinforcement of rhythm, as she does not portray any rhyming factors throughout the poem, the vital placement of punctuation allows needed pausing moments. Although it may be overlooked, the speaker uses punctuation to control meaningful thoughts, by doing so, the speaker furthers the relating concept with the intended audience concept, as she dexterously adds punctuations at the end of complete thoughts. Another constitutive component the poet assimilates in the arrangement of the poem is the breaking of lines in the mid-clause, creating enjambment, to deregulate the rhythm of the poem, whereas in this case she does this to silence and slow the pace of the poem. The line breaks also serve to change the time periods and the change of emotion and intensity as in: “I’d dream of myself/ of my childhood of miracles/ of my father’s burnt umber pride/...Within the dream of myself/ perhaps I'd meet my son…” (37-42). Due to the phrases not sharing a line each phrase entails for a different emotion, which further highlights the impacting sentimental features of the quilt.
Moreover, Waniek elucidates the metaphoric strength of the quilt through vivid descriptions of color. She exemplifies dying under “Six Van Dyke brown squares/ two white ones, and one square/ the yellowbrown of Mama’s cheeks” (15-17) by doing so, she partners the quilt and it's comforting colors to family members whom she adores. She also creates a sense of peacefulness because the each square of the heavenly quilt “holds a sweet gum leaf/ whose fingers I imagine/ would caress me into the silence” (18-20). The different patches and colors in the quilt distinctly symbolize the different races and color of those who make up the speakers family roots. She tastefully paints a picture of her diverse family through the colors of the quilt, which consist of “brown squares” (15), and the “two white” (16) squares, and one square that is the “the yellowbrown of Mama’s cheeks” (17). The speaker purposely characterizes the colors of the quilt, as she later explains their meaning in the next stanza where she delineates Meema’s “yellow sisters” (25) and their grandfather’s “white family” (26). Coordinating the colors of the quilt with the diversity within her family better excels the value of quilt, whereas the speaker cherishes the thought of a togetherness within the family's bloodline.
Furthermore, the speaker renders toward a reminiscent tone when describing her illustrious childhood and future in conjunction with the quilt.

The speaker remembers how she planned to “inherit/ that blanket” (9-10) and how she used to wrap herself and “play in its folds and be chieftains/ and princesses” (11-12), recalling these peaceful memories helps the reader understand that the quilt reminds her of her gracious upbringing. The reader also recognizes the reminiscent tone distributed for the importance of the quilt interrelates with the speakers future. The speaker narrates that she looks forward to dreaming under the quilt, as she might “dream” (41) of herself, or meet her son or other unconceived children. The quilt allows her to relax and encounter a clear mindset to evoke old memories and new

memories.
Indulging that the quilt is now a part of her, as it reminds her of her family heritage and her own identity, the speaker it content with her Century Quilt. The poet overall sympathizes this thoroughly through the clean structure, use of color, and reminiscent tone.