2 Poetry for Students
member of the clergy, and her mother Maude Long
was a teacher. Madgett published her first volume
of poetry, Songs to a Phantom Nightingale, in- After graduating with honors from Virginia
State College in 1945, Madgett took a job as a re-
porter for the Michigan Chronicle.In 1946 she
married Julian Witherspoon and left the newspa-
per. She was divorced in 1949 and worked as a ser-
vice representative for the Michigan Bell telephone
company until 1954, the same year she married
William Harold Madgett. For ten years, beginning
in 1955, Madgett taught in the Detroit public school
system. The following year she received a master’s
degree in education from Wayne State University.
Madgett taught English at Eastern Michigan Uni-
versity from 1968 until she was named professor
emeritus in 1984. She served as an editor at Lotus
Press from 1974 to 1993, when she was named di-
rector. Madgett has contributed poetry to more than
100 anthologies and to numerous periodicals, in ad-
dition to publishing her own volumes of poetry.
Poem Text.
They said, “Wait.” Well, I waited.
For a hundred years I waited
In cotton fields, kitchens, balconies,
In bread lines, at back doors, on chain gangs,
In stinking “colored” toilets 5
And crowded ghettos,
Outside of schools and voting booths.
And some said, “Later.”
And some said, “Never!”
Then a new wind blew, and a new voice 10
Rode its wings with quiet urgency,
Strong, determined, sure.
“No,” it said. “Not ‘never,’ not ‘later,’
Not even ‘soon.’
Now. 15
Walk!”
And other voices echoed the freedom words,
“Walk together, children, don’t get weary,”
Whispered them, sang them, prayed them, shouted
them.
“Walk!” 20
And I walked the streets of Montgomery
Until a link in the chain of patient acquiescence
broke.
Then again: Sit down!
And I sat down at the counters of Greensboro.
Ride! And I rode the bus for freedom. 25
Kneel! And I went down on my knees in prayer
and faith.
March! And I’ll march until the last chain falls
Singing, “We shall overcome.”Not all the dogs and hoses in Birmingham
Nor all the clubs and guns in Selma 30
Can turn this tide.
Not all the jails can hold these young black faces
From their destiny of manhood,
Of equality, of dignity,
Of the American Dream^35
A hundred years past due.
Now!Poem Summary.
Lines 1-2:
“Alabama Centennial” opens by establishing a
very personal tone, the first person “I” in contrast
with an anonymous “They.” One could easily as-
sume, given the title and subject of the poem that
the “They” is the white American establishment
whose racist views and policies kept African Amer-
icans in a state of inequality. The gravity of this is
then emphasized by the second line which reminds
the reader of the history behind such a situation,
how long it has been the case.Lines 3-7:
Here a list begins that adds historical context
to the poem. “Cotton fields” and “kitchens” refer
to times of slavery when these were the predomi-
nant places African Americans were forced to
work. “Bread lines” and “chain gangs” then intro-
duce the ideas of extreme poverty, most specifi-
cally during the Great Depression, and of jail, a
very literal image of the bondage experienced by
African Americans. Line 5 then offers one of the
strongest of the list, a reference to segregated bath-
rooms. This line stands out, it seems, because of
this word “stinking” which is sharp sounding rela-
tive to the words that surround it. It also evokes a
particular sensory reaction, that of smell, which
adds strength. “Crowded ghettos” then shifts the
focus briefly to the inner city, the urban scene
where though there are “Schools and voting
booths,” the speaker of the poem is left “Outside”
of them. All of these images together provide an
historical line of neglect and oppression.
It is worth noting as well how Madgett uses
anaphora in lines 3, 4, and 5 to add rhythm and
strength to the list. Anaphora is the repetition of a
word or phrase at the beginning of the line, and
here, with the repetition of the short, sharp word
“In,” it almost has the effect of hammering in a nail.Lines 8-9:
Here Madgett closes the first stanza by refer-
ring back to the words of the opposition and in do-Alabama Centennial