The analysis of “We Real Cool”
“We
Real Cool” is a poem written by Gwendolyn Brooks. In this case, I will analyze
this poem based on its versification, the structure of stanza, and the musical device
that include of rhyme, rhythm and sound. Besides, it will be discussed about
the breaking up of lines. First, it is about the structure of stanza. Actually,
there are four stanzas, and those could have been written thus:
We
real cool.
We
left school.
We lurk late.
We strike straight.
We
sing sin.
We
thin gin.
We jazz June.
We die soon.
On
the other hand, the stanza that is used at this poem is “Couplet”. It is
because each stanza consists of two lines with end-rhymes “We”. Besides, it
also used for a pair of rhyming lines, such as cool/school, late/straight, and
so on. Then, it is about its musical device. In my opinion, here when
structuring this poem, the writer more focused on its rhyme. We can see that the
lines all rhyme are so short, and the effect of the rhyming is even stronger,
it is because the rhyme words are close together: cool / school, late /
straight, sin / gin. These are also very strong rhymes and no half rhymes
here. Yet, as if the rhyming are not
enough to tie the poem tightly together, we also find alliteration, that
technique where a sound repeats, usually a consonant, and usually at the
beginning of a word: lurk late, strike straight, sing sin, Jazz June. Sometimes,
the rhyming does not even stop with the two end words: Sing sin thin gin, and then
of course there is that "we" at the end of all the lines. It does not
just rhyme, it is the same word, and its repetition repeatedly, ties the poem
even more tightly together. However, it also does not seem quite right to say
that "we" is the last word of each line. As a reader we have to pause
before we say it, and also after, so it will be like this, “We real cool. We / Left school. We / Lurk late.” The result
is still another pattern of rhythm that binds the lines together. Then, the
function of breaking up of the lines, as I said before, actually the writer
wanted to focus on the rhyme. Therefore, she put the subject “we” in different
line. In other words, she wanted to make a rhyme or it could to prevent fast
reading I think.
