Analysis of Poem "We Real Cool" by

Gwendolyn Brooks
 ANDREW SPACEY

 SEP 6, 2021

Andrew has a keen interest in all aspects of poetry and writes extensively on the
subject. His poems are published online and in print.

Gwendolyn Brooks And A Summary of We Real Cool

We Real Cool is a poem about the identity of a group of teenagers, black males, playing
pool in the Golden Shovel. They are said to be black, like the poet Gwendolyn Brooks,
but the poem could be about any group of rebellious youngsters anywhere, be they
white or female.

It was written in 1959 and first published in the 1960 volume The Bean Eaters. We Real
Cool struck a chord and was instantly seen as a ground-breaking classic. It is still very
popular and causes many a debate amongst young people.

It's the daring combination of language and rhythm that sets this poem apart. On paper
it looks all too simple but when you go a bit deeper into the syntax and stress this poem
has much to offer.

 To get a better understanding of how the poem works it might be better to listen
to the two people reciting the poem on the video at the end of this analysis. Note
the difference in delivery and the tone. One is light, the other dark.

We Real Cool is skeletal in form yet has plenty of muscle. It poses many questions. For
example, who are the 'we'? They surely must be young because they're cool, real cool,
which means exactly what? Extremely chilled? Anti-establishment? Fashionable
because they're outside the mainstream?

Gwendolyn Brooks thought the poem should be read softly, the 'We' being 'tiny, wispy,
weakly argumentative' because the young men are not so certain of themselves.
Interesting.

This is a poem that goes against the grain. Full of monosyllables and end stops its short
lines are like a thumped drum, two strong beats and a weak to follow, until the final
couplet fades away into the dark, like a burnt out comet.

We Real Cool

THE POOL PLAYERS.

SEVEN AT THE GOLDEN SHOVEL.

We real cool. We
Left school. We

Lurk late. We
Strike straight. We

Sing sin. We
Thin gin. We
Jazz June. We
Die soon.

Analysis of We Real Cool

We Real Cool holds in its 8 lines the whole lives of a teenage gang, from their coolness
to their demise. It could be a motto, it could be a song, a chant, a lyric rage against the
powers that be.

It has end rhyme and internal rhyme which is technically full - cool/school, sin/gin and
the repetitive We; this is rhyme that binds together and holds tight, suggestive of the
brotherhood of the gang. The poem is not too long to induce monotony.

The tone is one of defiance and stubborn allegiance to the gang. This is a group of
outsiders who prefer pool to school, dropping out to serious study. Late alcoholic nights
out on the street seem much more preferable to dull nights in.

Line Breaks

The line breaks - when a line reaches the end and a new one starts - are a good
example of enjambment, when there is no punctuation and the sense is carried over
from line to line. The reader becomes acutely aware of this special line break as the
poem progresses.

 And what about that ever present We? In the words of the poet herself she put
the We at the ends of lines for emphasis 'so the reader could give them that little
split-second's attention.'
 Gwendolyn Brooks thought the boys felt unwanted (by family and society) and so
formed the poem with them in absolute focus.
  The natural pause after We does tend to make the reader's thoughts linger
fractionally. This strengthens the bonds between the pool players and brings a
sense of bravado and chest beating.

The mix of long and short vowels bring an intense verbal experience for the reader. Just
think of the title We Real Cool which is long and drawn out, then contrast this with thin
gin and sing sin for example, before the last line again reverts to long vowels, We die
soon.

What is the reader to make of these pool players who seem to take pride in the fact they
have left school, escaping the tedium of education, perhaps risking unemployment and
the chance to earn an honest dollar?

And the alliterative lurk late has negative connotations. If a gang of youths are lurking
around the implication is that they will sooner or later end up in trouble, become known
to the law. They're wasting time, throwing their young lives away.

To strike straight is to hit the pool ball hard and true - innocent enough in a game of
pool - but what about the strike of a fist, the direct punch, the no nonsense jab, right
hook? This poem brings with it a kind of ambiguity - the lifestyle of these players is
questionable to say the least.

And when they sing sin does this mean they are going against all the religious truths
they were brought up with? Are they foul mouthing, undermining the christian faith?

They may be true to their own oaths and passions, they may be outsiders, not like the
mass of the mainstream, but there is the notion too that they are a little pathetic.

More Analysis of We Real Cool

Pathos is one thing - based on the possibility that this gang, these cool pool players, are
in fact empty jokers and have nothing substantial to say. So they thin gin which means
they drink cheap alcohol, they do what the adults do and will probably go on doing
whatever it takes to dodge normality.

 But the truth seems to be that they're relying on fate, and the speaker has their
number, which is seven, the luckiest of all magical numbers don't they say? Plus,
the place they frequent is named after a tool of the gravedigger, albeit made out
of precious gold, the material associated with ultimate bling.

Their ability to Jazz June seems a sort of climax, for what follows is death, physical or
spiritual, a definitive leaving behind. The word jazz suggests flashy, eccentric, stylish,
abstract - and also spirit, energy, spunk - this is the macho world the gang have
entered, willingly or not.

The last line is still shocking, the collective We almost proudly boasting of a premature
demise which follows on logically from what has gone before.

So ends a dramatic poem that is, in 8 lines, a miniature tragedy: the seven players die
young, too young, and all because of?

Sources

Norton Anthology, Norton, 2005

www.poetryfoundation.org

www.poets.org