The following poetry analysis will explore the poem “We Real Cool” by Gwendolyn Brooks. In order to better grasp the poet’s intention and purpose of the poem, three elements common in writing are incorporated into this short and simple poem. Using theme, rhythm, and tone as the elements found in the poem to best express the poet’s position and message to the audience. One of the main reasons I decided to choose this particular poem is because of the simplicity that is used, yet a powerful message is still effectively delivered. Fortunately the author sets the image for the setting at the very beginning where she states, “The pool players. Seven at the Golden Shovel” (Brooks, 1960).
The poem takes a look inside a pool hall mid-day to find seven young boys hanging out in the pool hall where they thought they were the coolest guys around. Use of theme is an integral part of this piece of work to establish that these young men find it more desirable to be hanging out where grown-ups typically hang out. The theme of feeling or being cool is continued throughout each line as the poet emphasizes the group- “we.” By using the word “we” to express the individuals in the pool hall it is easy to feel the theme of the rebellious nature of a gang of young people that think they are “cool” for being somewhere they are not supposed to be.
The rhyme is another element creatively used in the poem that creates enormous impact on what these individuals are engaged in as they hang out at the pool hall. The first cool thing they do is when they leave school, connecting the action of what makes them cool through use of rhyme. From there all other important actions occurring in each line are delivered through use of rhyme. The rhyming works in each line are the most expressive parts of the poem for the audience to imagine a clear image of what these young individuals are up to as they skip school, which they think is “real cool.”
The final element used by Brooks in the poem is her use of tone that pulls the entire piece together in a uniform manner. From start to finish the tone of the poem is so casual and succinct that it behaves like a teenager who thinks he’s so cool. Using the minimal language and the bold rhyme creates a tone of the narrator as the actual cool one for seeing the foolishness of these young kids who think skipping school to hang out at a place where people drink gin and play pool while listening to jazz is something more admirable than their time at school. After reviewing the poem several times one can see the sarcastic tone of the poem in the emphasis of how “we real cool.”
Brooks simple yet powerful use of theme, rhyme, and tone in “We Real Cool” is used with such creativity and efficiency that it makes the audience want to hear it over again. With each time the reader takes in the words, he or she can picture the details of the scenario better than the previous time. The poem accurately reflects the attitude of teenagers who do not quite know what is “real cool.” Instead, their ignorant and immaturity leads them to make choices that are the opposite of cool from a grown up perspective. In conclusion the simplicity and power of the poem is what had me choose this particular piece to analyze for the essay.
Works Cited
Kennedy, X. J., and Dana Gioia. An Introduction to Poetry. New York: Longman, 1998. Print.
