Gwendolyn Brooks
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
“We Real Cool” by Gwendolyn Brooks is a poem we’ve studied in class that really sticks out to me. The simplicity of the poem and yet all that implies really impresses me. The first thing I noticed about the poem is the connotation of “We.” Brook’s use of “We” casts the group of people she is speaking of as different from all the rest, the rebels of society. The slang of the poem is key to understanding its subject. The slang breaks the rules of conventional speaking, instead of saying “We are real cool” it’s “We real cool.” The connotation of this slang further implies the “rebel” qualities of the pool players, breaking societies rules. Besides slang, the connotation of words like “lurk” and “strike” opens up more of how we may see these pool players. “Lurk” and “strike” are words can describe creatures powerful creatures in the jungle. The connotation of these words shows these rebels want to be seen as in charge. Lastly the last stanza really caught my attention. The ending, ‘We die soon, “ did not really catch my eye as much as “We jazz June.” The fact these boys will die soon is implied it’s obvious their life motto is “live hard and die young.’ Brooks use of jazz as a verb perfect for the last verse. When I think of jazz I think of freedom, improvisation, breaking the rules-just like the musical style did. The connotation I had of this word fit the opinion I had formed of these boys: they are rebels; they are free to do as they please because they don’t care about the consequences.
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ReplyDeleteI liked this poem a lot too. It's so short and simple, yet it contains a heavy message, especially to people our age, I think. The whole idea of being rebellious really stuck out to me because, to some extent, that's what it means to be a teenager. Dropping out of school, staying out late, partaking negative activities (i.e. drinking/drugs/etc), is pretty real to most people our age. I know people who have dropped out of high school, who do drugs, etc. There are some reckless people out there, and this poem really hit the nail on the head, so to speak.
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