The Poem We Real Cool

'We Existent Cool' by Gwendolyn Brooks is a four stanza, 8-line verse form that has been separated into repeating couplets. The poem is quite short and makes apply of the minimal number of words to get the speaker'southward point across. Each line, except for the first and final is made upwardly of three words, the last of which is "We." This creates the well-nigh bones of rhymes. It is a constant in the poem until one gets to the final line. It drops off after the phrase "Die soon." The ending mimicking death itself.

The speaker has been interpreted in a number of different ways. It could be i person among the group of players speaking for everyone else, an uninvolved onlooker projecting what he or she thinks onto the grouping, or every line might exist spoken at the same time by all seven players.

We Real Cool by Gwendolyn Brooks

Summary

'We Existent Cool' by Gwendolyn Brooks describes the lives of 7 pool players who lurk in the night, don't go to school, and program on dying before long.

The poem begins with the speaker stating that he and his friends are "cool." They spend their days playing pool and have left school in order to get away from the establishment. The players do not seem to have any regard for their futures, only the present. They are satisfying their almost basic wants with "Lurk[ing]" in the nighttime and drinking watered-down gin.

The verse form concludes with the speaker noting and accepting the fact that all going to "Die soon." This is a hitting catastrophe that makes one wonder how the characters got into the situation they are in and if they are truly happy and confident with the choices they fabricated.

You can read the full poem here.

The Subtitle

Before commencement 'We Real Cool' information technology is of import for a reader to take note of the subtitle that appears before the text actually begins. It reads,

The Pool Players.
Seven at the Gilt Shovel.

These two lines are straight forrard, but like the balance of the poem. They are used to set the scene every bit if they are stage directions. From these lines a reader can interpret that the characters are "pool players," at that place are seven of them and they are at a hall chosen "The Aureate Shovel." For a gimmicky reader, the idea of a pool hall or billiard hall/room might be unfamiliar.

Information technology is a coming together place where any number of games, pool included, could be played. They were often dimly lit and offered drinks. The halls are at present well past their pop height. They were extremely common throughout the early to mid-1900s and began to be seen as disreputable by the end of the 60s.

The Golden Shovel

Since 'Nosotros Real Cool' is only 4 stanzas and eight lines long a reader must seek out detail wherever possible. Brooks did non choose her words lightly. If a give-and-take such as "gilt" was used, it was used with a specific image in mind. One should consider this in reference to the larger epitome of the pool hall. This detail place is labeled as "gilded" equally if it is giving off some kind of low-cal or is alluring, like gilded.

The second role of the title is "shovel." A shovel immediately brings to mind work and labor, the opposite of what occurs at a pool hall. After finishing the poem and encountering the line "Die soon," it is incommunicable not to chronicle the shovel to grave digging. Brooks is commenting on the activities of the seven players and how they are leading themselves to an early grave.

Assay of Nosotros Real Cool

Lines 1-ii

We real cool. We

Left schoolhouse. We

When Brooks begins 'Nosotros Real Absurd' she does and then without hesitation. The seven pool players immediately turn and address the listener. It is easy to fall into the patterning of the verses equally the repetition makes the lines read somewhat like a song. The players could be speaking in tandem. They begin by proverb that they are "real cool." The grammatical structure of the sentence tells the readers something about the men.

The adjacent line informs the reader that they chose to get out schoolhouse. It is unclear whether they have left school for good or just for the 24-hour interval. Either fashion, it was something they chose to exercise. Besides important is the presence of "Nosotros" at the finish of each line. The separation between the second "We" and "Left School" is done intentionally. Brooks stated that this choice was made in order to allow one to meditate on what the "We" represents. The men are presenting themselves strongly, peradventure too much so. They seem determined to prove who they are, something that Brooks alluded to as their weakness.

Lines 3-4

The next stanza describes how the men "Lurk late." The use of the give-and-take "Lurk" makes the phrase sound predatory. Information technology is as if the men are moving through the night seeking out opportunities, thrills, or casualty. Whatever it is they do, they practice it "late" at night. There is non an end to their "Lurk[ing]" and they will be out and on the prowl long later on others take turned in.

The following line is similar in that the word "Strike" feels dangerous. Information technology is used hither to refer to their ability to play pool only also shows their precision and decision.

Lines 5-6

In the next stanza, Brooks' speaker or speaker/southward begins with an alliteration. Here it is stated that they "Sing sin." This is meant to describe the manner they celebrate their own (and others) misdeeds. They like to participate in things that are deemed sinful and they exercise not feel most their choices. One should consider the statement made by Brooks at this signal alluding to the false confidence she saw these speakers as having. The sins are unknown, but could chronicle to the possibly disreputable pool hall they are spending their fourth dimension in. Gambling and drinking indulgence were not uncommon.

Next, the speaker or speakers say that they "Thin gin." This refers to their thinning of booze with water or soda. Due to the fact that it follows after the "sin" line, it probably relates to their misdeeds.

Lines 7-8

Jazz June. We

Die shortly.

In the first of the last two lines, Brooks' speaker or speakers refer to "Jazz[ing]" June. This line is unclear and Brooks does not reveal exactly what she meant by it in interviews. One estimation could have the line sexually. June could refer to a woman and "Jazz" could be used as a slang word for having sex activity.

From another angle, the line references summer and the pool player's embrace of the freedom of that time of year. This speaks to their historic period and to their need to break out of the blueprint of society. They make the most of the fourth dimension they have away from obligations. Although, if they left school that is no longer a concern.

In that location is i further estimation promoted by Brooks, that the month of June represents the verbal opposite. Rather than summer information technology was to her a symbol for the system that players were meant to conform to. Their "jazz[ing]" of information technology would be their ignoring of its power.

The final line of 'We Existent Absurd' is the nigh shocking. The speaker says that they are going to "Dice soon." Their lives are following a path that does not pb anywhere skilful. The phrase follows in the aforementioned pattern as those which proceeded it. The speaker sees death as being function of the deal made by the players. They tin can either shy from decease or accept it. In this case, they see where they are going and are able to accept that fact.