They Went Home
They Went Home - context Summary
Feminine Resilience in the 1970s
Published in 1978 in And Still I Rise, this poem observes how men compliment and objectify a woman and then retreat to conventional expectations. The speaker recalls being judged for a spotless house, a measured gentleness, and an air of mystery, while the men imagine short-lived sexual conquests. Yet each scene ends with the refrain They went home
, signaling that such attention never translates into lasting respect or equality. The poem thus probes gender dynamics and the societal treatment of women, a central concern in Angelou’s work.
They went home and told their wives, that never once in all their lives, had they known a girl like me. But... They went home. They said my house was licking clean, no word I spoke was ever mean, I had an air of mystery. But... They went home. My praises were on all men's lips, they liked my smile, my wit, my hips, they'd spend one night, or two or three. But...
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