“We Real Cool” by Gwendolyn Brooks is a short, simple poem about a group of rebellious teenagers hanging out and playing pool at some place called the Golden Shovel. The lines, in my opinion, illustrate an idea of each teenager saying each line in a circle. The poem has no real speaker, as it just subtitled the “pool players”. There’s 8 total lines and 8 total sentences starting with ‘we’, and only 7 teenagers, so perhaps Brooks intended for the readers to visualize all seven of them saying “we / die soon” (7-8) at the end.
It’s hard to predict whether this poem is an appreciation, warning, or criticism for rebellious behavior. The teenagers leave school early, stay out late, throw punches, promote bad behavior, drink alcohol, and listen to jazz– all pretty stereotypical young, delinquent behavior. This poem is easy to write up as a criticism for this behavior due to the final line and its implication that it results in an early death; however, given the historical context of the situation, I might argue that the poem is simultaneously a pessimistic and appreciative poem.
Brooks wrote this poem in the height of the Civil Rights Movement, a movement that would not have occured if not for those who “strike straight” (4) and “sing sin” (5), so it’s necessary for the world to progress and change. And yet, Brooks also knows that engaging in that behavior in this time period is certainly a death sentence, whether it’s literally or figuratively. She might argue that some people have to engage in rebellion despite the sacrifice, and so she encourages people to keep making a stand, but to be careful.
Good analysis! What also stood out to me was that the rhyme scheme took a different approach: instead of words normally rhyming at the end of each line, it’s at the second-to-last one. It’s almost as if Brooks wanted to mix a refined poet and rebellious teen together and got this instead. I feel the idea of being “cool” as a teen, though, as you said, is more negative and positive. As you said, the last line indicates an early grave, and it’s further reinforced by the fact the poem’s called The Golden Shovel. Is going out in a blaze of glory more sensible than living a more natural, 9-5 life? Even if the “Seven at the Golden Shovel” are kinda funny and cool to read about, especially the historical context behind this, it feels these guys may not think things through on whether it is worth being cool or not.
I agree with your point that the poem’s intention as being criticizing or appreciative is ambiguous. There are several phrases that contribute to this ambiguity. The very location of the pool hall the teenagers are in is called “The Golden Shovel.” Golden implies that this is a very fancy, expensive, or even divine place, while shovel brings it all back to earth, since it is associated with digging, the ground, and even graves. We “lurk late” and “strike straight” uses strong alliteration to emphasize the assertive and faced-paced nature of this lifestyle. “Sing sins” suggests that the teenagers joyously celebrate this type of rebellious lifestyle even if it’s “sinful.” And the very last line of the pome “We /die young” suggests that the consequence of all this is an early death. Like Chris mentioned, the poem invites us to question whether living a “cool” life as described in the poem is really cool or not, considering the consequences.