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The title to the poem is We Real Cool. The phrase “we real cool” immediately elicits culturally
stereotypical images and ideas of rebellious adolescents resisting the flow of accepted society. The
words “we real cool” does this first through the blatant disregard of proper grammar. In the phrase “we
real cool,” there is no verb, and that makes it an illegitimate sentence.
We’re non-conforming, self-respecting rebels.
We escaped constraint of formal education.
We sneak around at night.
We assault others.
We participate in criminal acts, but we do not feel sorry.
We participate in illegal alcohol abuse.
We engage in sexual
or rape with females.
We won’t live much longer.
The poem has simple language throughout. Part of the purpose is to portray more accurately the attitudes
of the subjects of the poem, wayward school dropouts who engage in shady and illegal activities. In line
1, Brooks uses the word ‘cool’ specifically to evoke and unearth a series of preconceptions and
stereotypes associated with people who consider themselves ‘cool.’ In effect, Brooks saved herself a lot
of description of the speakers just by using that one word, because there are many things (immaturity,
rashness, etc.) people automatically associate with the word ‘cool,’ especially when the word is known
to describe the ‘pool players,’ hanging out at a club called ‘The Golden Shovel.’
In line 2, ‘left school’ is also significant. The use of the word ‘left’ could signify that the speakers gave
up education as nonchalantly as the word ‘left’ is. When someone ‘left’ something, it could be a very
ordinary action without much thinking behind it. Using the word ‘left,’ Brooks might be trying to convey
that sense of apathy with which the speakers dropped out.
In line 5, the speaker uses the words ‘sing sin.’ Apart from the musical sound of ‘sing sin,’ Brooks uses
the word ‘sing’ specifically to convey the speakers’ views toward their misdeeds. Singing is often used
to revel or celebrate, and by ‘sing[ing] sin,’ the speakers say that not only do they not repent for the bad
things they commit, the find joy in them.
‘Jazz June’ (line 7) is another significant use of words. ‘Jazz’ apparently was vernacular during the time
period this poem was written that meant ‘to
with.’ ‘June’ is a female name, and in this situation, it
is probably used to represent females in general, instead of one specific girl named June. ‘Jazz June’ is
used to imply that the speakers engage in sexual contact (or perhaps even rape) with women.
The repeated use of the word ‘We’ at the end of each line except the last is interesting and significant.
Instead of putting the each ‘we’ at the beginning of each line, which would’ve sounded the same when
reading, putting each ‘we’ at the end of the lines draws attention to them and emphasizes them. This
signifies the speakers’ identification with a group of his friends (the other members of the seven pool
players), and highlights this bond, and in a way labels them all as the same.
The poem presents the attitude of the speakers very directly, because it is written in first person from the
perspective of one of the pool players. This attitude is having pride in being rebellious and troublesome.
Throughout the poem, the speaker lists acts the group has committed, but provides no elaboration, giving
the reader the sense that the speaker and his friends are detached from their actions and really don’t care
about anything. Even the last line, ‘we die soon.’ Putting this line at the end of a list of their deeds so
abruptly shows that even death is seen nonchalantly in their eyes, and that they know that their lifestyle
leads to early death, but it doesn’t matter to them.
There isn’t an obvious shift in the poem, but the events told by the speaker probably happened in order:
first, they left school. Then they began night wandering tendencies, and then assault and alcohol abuse,
etc. The purpose of putting these in order rests in the last line “We die soon,” as if predicting the death to
be the next event in line.
While the reader may be unsure of what the two lines that follow the title might mean, after reading the
poem, it’s clear. The epigraph that follows the title is “The pool players. Seven at the Golden Shovel.”
The epigraph sets the poem up to be a kind of case study of the seven pool players, and that, in addition
to the title We Real Cool, suggests that the poem will represent the attitudes of these seven pool players.
The theme of the poem is rebellion and counter-social behavior. Brooks’s view is apparently that
nonconformity demonstrated in these actions like the pool players’ leads ultimately to misfortune,
specifically, early death, as she writes as the fate of the pool players.