We Real Cool

We Real Cool is a poem written in 1959 by African American poet Gwendolyn Brooks and published in her 1960 book "The Bean Eaters," her third collection of poetry.

It consists of four verses of two rhyming lines each. The last word in most lines is "we". The next line describes something that "we" do, such as play pool or drop out of school. Brooks has said that the "we"'s are meant to be said softly, as though the protagonists in the poem are questioning the validity of their existence. ["An Interview with Gwendolyn Brooks" in Contemporary Literature 11:1 (Winter 1970). Available on-line: " [http://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/poets/a_f/brooks/werealcool.htm On We Real Cool] ".] The poem has been featured on broadsides, and is widely studied in literature classes and re-printed in literature textbooks.

The last line of the poem "We die soon" indicates the climax.

External links

* [http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15433 Poem and audio clip of Brooks reading "We Real Cool"]
* [http://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/poets/a_f/brooks/werealcool.htm An interview with Brooks about "We Real Cool"] and poem interpretations

References