“WE REAL COOL”BY GWENDOLYN BROOKS

Poetry Analysis

Poem: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. [1960]

Audio

Background of the author... 1917-2000

1st African American to receive Pulitzer Prize for poetry. (1950)

Early years – Grew up poor “Spurned by other’s for loving to read and

write”

Professional career – Worked for NAACP Poems discussed racism, struggle, day to

day life Notably inter –racial discrimination Changed from structured poetry

to free verse

Later years – Promoted poetry within inner

city schools and even bars Chicago State University: Gwendolyn

Brooks Centre Known for chronicling the lives and

struggles of African Americans before, during and after the civil rights movement.

We Real Cool

Poem is a commentary on the defiance of youth (embracing non-conformity) and their recognition of the end result of such a life.

A song that defines who they are at they very moment they exist. No unnecessary words needed to define them – their lives are simple so the poem must be simple.

We Real Cool

The Pool Players at the Golden Shovel Players – actors in their own play (short /

end) Seven – luck Golden – wealth of youth Shovel – work / death / burial

Overall, before the poem begins it sets the ‘stage’ for how these boys see their lives through analysis of subtext.

We Real Cool

‘We’ Stop after We – verbal/mental pause,

symbolizes their validity of presence Signifies Value – loud: bold / soft:

uncertain

We Real Cool

Acts of defiance/non-conformity that symbolizes their existence (coolness) Left School (school isn’t for them) Lurk Late (stay out when they want) Strike Straight (blunt and aggressive

towards their desires) Sing Sin (say what they want) Thin Gin (drink what they want) Jazz June (sexual power) Die soon (they determine their exit)

We Real Cool Brooks stated that the form is determined by

the boys in the poem, not the rhythm itself.

Rhythm does play a factor however: The boys in the poem have limitations – they

must adhere to a structure – but they can alter the limitations to suit them.

This is why the poem has a rhyme scheme that sounds simplistic but relevant to their social conditions.

Repetition – daily routine Alliteration – recognize value of pattern (Lurk

Late, Strike Straight, Sing Sin) and makes it [them] memorable

We Real Cool

Dropouts (which could effectively mean many things) who through the poem value each other instead of the social and educational fabric that they existed in.

Their freedom to live in the poem inevitably ensures that their freedom to die will be followed in the same fashion.

Blessing or curse? Brooks commentary on the social condition of the

civil rights movement is clear through this poem.

We Real Cool

We is a collective term for a generation that Brooks sees in her culture.

We – are a group in the 1950’s & 60’s who suddenly didn’t understand why they have trying to conform to a society which didn’t want to recognize them anyway.