The Bean Eaters
They eat beans mostly, this old yellow pair.
Dinner is a casual affair.
Plain chipware on a plain and creaking wood,
Tin flatware.
Two who are Mostly Good.
Two who have lived their day,
But keep on putting on their clothes
And putting things away.
And remembering . . .
Remembering, with twinklings and twinges,
As they lean over the beans in their rented back room that
is full of beads and receipts and dolls and cloths,
tobacco crumbs, vases and fringes.
Like many of her poems, and all but one that I have posted, The Beat Eaters also features a rhyme scheme (ABCB). There is also repetition of the "tw" beginning of words, and an alliteration is present in the phrase "twinklings and twinges." The Bean Eaters is a romantic poem, in my opinion, and an excellent example of how poetry paints pictures that words can't seem to justify on their own. It tells of an honest couple, "this old yellow pair" who live a modest life in their "rented back room." Brooks paints a picture of poverty, yet the love and companionship between the two outweighs this hardship.
Monday, April 25, 2011
Sunday, April 24, 2011
The Crazy Woman
The Crazy Woman
I shall not sing a May song.
A May song should be gay.
I'll wait until November
And sing a song of gray.
I'll wait until November
That is the time for me.
I'll go out in the frosty dark
And sing most terribly.
And all the little people
Will stare at me and say,
"That is the Crazy Woman
Who would not sing in May.
The Crazy Woman tells of the speaker's perception of herself through the eyes of others. To them she is the "
Crazy Woman." The speaker seems unhappy, as she doesn't sing "in May" when happy songs are sung, but rather in November when she sings "a song of gray." There is a lot of cold and dark imagery in the poem, with phrases such as "frosty dark" and "gray," dispersed in the poem. Like many of her other poems, Brooks has utilized a rhyme scheme.
I shall not sing a May song.
A May song should be gay.
I'll wait until November
And sing a song of gray.
I'll wait until November
That is the time for me.
I'll go out in the frosty dark
And sing most terribly.
And all the little people
Will stare at me and say,
"That is the Crazy Woman
Who would not sing in May.
The Crazy Woman tells of the speaker's perception of herself through the eyes of others. To them she is the "
Crazy Woman." The speaker seems unhappy, as she doesn't sing "in May" when happy songs are sung, but rather in November when she sings "a song of gray." There is a lot of cold and dark imagery in the poem, with phrases such as "frosty dark" and "gray," dispersed in the poem. Like many of her other poems, Brooks has utilized a rhyme scheme.
One Wants A Teller In A Time Like This
One Wants A Teller In A Time Like This
One wants a teller in a time like this
One's not a man, one's not a woman grown
To bear enormous business all alone.
One cannot walk this winding street with pride
Straight-shouldered, tranquil-eyed,
Knowing one knows for sure the way back home.
One wonders if one has a home.
One is not certain if or why or how.
One wants a Teller now:
Put on your rubbers and you won't catch a cold
Here's hell, there's heaven. Go to Sunday School
Be patient, time brings all good things--(and cool
Stong balm to calm the burning at the brain?)
Behold,
Love's true, and triumphs; and God's actual.
One Wants A Teller In A Time Like This is about someone, reverting to their childish ways, wanting someone to tell them what to do. They are lost, and looking for guidance. Brooks alludes to the way children are told to do things by their parents in lines such as "Put on your rubbers and you won't catch a cold." By referencing absolutes such as heaven and hell, she speaks of wanting absolutes and true answers, cut and dry, no room for interpretation, as things would be easier this way. Like many of Brooks' poems there is a rhyme scheme. She ends the poem with the two answers that she knows; "Love's true, and triumphs; and God's actual."
Friday, April 15, 2011
To Be In Love
To Be In Love
To be in love
Is to touch with a lighter hand.
In yourself you stretch, you are well.
You look at things
Through his eyes.
A cardinal is red.
A sky is blue.
Suddenly you know he knows too.
He is not there but
You know you are tasting together
The winter, or a light spring weather.
His hand to take your hand is overmuch.
Too much to bear.
You cannot look in his eyes
Because your pulse must not say
What must not be said.
When he
Shuts a door-
Is not there_
Your arms are water.
And you are free
With a ghastly freedom.
You are the beautiful half
Of a golden hurt.
You remember and covet his mouth
To touch, to whisper on.
Oh when to declare
Is certain Death!
Oh when to apprize
Is to mesmerize,
To see fall down, the Column of Gold,
Into the commonest ash.
To Be In Love strays from the typical African-American subject matter that Gwendolyn Brooks is known for. The imagery in the poem is striking, with color often being noted and other sensory details dwelled on. Examples of this is the mention of blue and red that the speaker goes on to say she sees so vividly through her lover's eyes. There is much allusion to the idea of two souls as one when being in love: "you know you are tasting together."
There are many religious allusions in the piece such as ash and Columns of Gold and water. The poem explores Love and the joining of two souls, and has an upbeat mood and tone. There is sporadic rhyming, but no evident rhyme scheme. It is more free verse
To be in love
Is to touch with a lighter hand.
In yourself you stretch, you are well.
You look at things
Through his eyes.
A cardinal is red.
A sky is blue.
Suddenly you know he knows too.
He is not there but
You know you are tasting together
The winter, or a light spring weather.
His hand to take your hand is overmuch.
Too much to bear.
You cannot look in his eyes
Because your pulse must not say
What must not be said.
When he
Shuts a door-
Is not there_
Your arms are water.
And you are free
With a ghastly freedom.
You are the beautiful half
Of a golden hurt.
You remember and covet his mouth
To touch, to whisper on.
Oh when to declare
Is certain Death!
Oh when to apprize
Is to mesmerize,
To see fall down, the Column of Gold,
Into the commonest ash.
To Be In Love strays from the typical African-American subject matter that Gwendolyn Brooks is known for. The imagery in the poem is striking, with color often being noted and other sensory details dwelled on. Examples of this is the mention of blue and red that the speaker goes on to say she sees so vividly through her lover's eyes. There is much allusion to the idea of two souls as one when being in love: "you know you are tasting together."
There are many religious allusions in the piece such as ash and Columns of Gold and water. The poem explores Love and the joining of two souls, and has an upbeat mood and tone. There is sporadic rhyming, but no evident rhyme scheme. It is more free verse
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
The Mother
The Mother
Abortions will not let you forget.
You remember the children you got that you did not get,
The damp small pulps with a little or with no hair,
The singers and workers that never handled the air.
You will never neglect or beat
Them, or silence or buy with a sweet.
You will never wind up the sucking-thumb
Or scuttle off ghosts that come.
You will never leave them, controlling your luscious sigh,
Return for a snack of them, with gobbling mother-eye.
I have heard in the voices of the wind the voices of my dim killed
children.
I have contracted. I have eased
My dim dears at the breasts they could never suck.
I have said, Sweets, if I sinned, if I seized
Your luck
And your lives from your unfinished reach,
If I stole your births and your names,
Your straight baby tears and your games,
Your stilted or lovely loves, your tumults, your marriages, aches,
and your deaths,
If I poisoned the beginnings of your breaths,
Believe that even in my deliberateness I was not deliberate.
Though why should I whine,
Whine that the crime was other than mine?--
Since anyhow you are dead.
Or rather, or instead,
You were never made.
But that too, I am afraid,
Is faulty: oh, what shall I say, how is the truth to be said?
You were born, you had body, you died.
It is just that you never giggled or planned or cried.
Believe me, I loved you all.
Believe me, I knew you, though faintly, and I loved, I loved you
All.
The Mother tells of the speaker's lamentations of abortions past, and the feelings she harbors because of these abortions. She is haunted by what could have been: "You will never wind up the sucking-thumb/ Or scuttle off ghosts that come." The speaker feels as if she has stolen the lives of the aborted, referring to them as her "dim killed children." There is a clear mood of regret, sadness, and remorse as the speaker ends the poem saying "I love you all."
One device utilized in the poem is repetition in the last stanza. There is also repetition of imagery and themes--- tears, death, love and memories that would be. Rhyming is also present in the piece which follows AABBCCDD... etc. until the last stanza.
Abortions will not let you forget.
You remember the children you got that you did not get,
The damp small pulps with a little or with no hair,
The singers and workers that never handled the air.
You will never neglect or beat
Them, or silence or buy with a sweet.
You will never wind up the sucking-thumb
Or scuttle off ghosts that come.
You will never leave them, controlling your luscious sigh,
Return for a snack of them, with gobbling mother-eye.
I have heard in the voices of the wind the voices of my dim killed
children.
I have contracted. I have eased
My dim dears at the breasts they could never suck.
I have said, Sweets, if I sinned, if I seized
Your luck
And your lives from your unfinished reach,
If I stole your births and your names,
Your straight baby tears and your games,
Your stilted or lovely loves, your tumults, your marriages, aches,
and your deaths,
If I poisoned the beginnings of your breaths,
Believe that even in my deliberateness I was not deliberate.
Though why should I whine,
Whine that the crime was other than mine?--
Since anyhow you are dead.
Or rather, or instead,
You were never made.
But that too, I am afraid,
Is faulty: oh, what shall I say, how is the truth to be said?
You were born, you had body, you died.
It is just that you never giggled or planned or cried.
Believe me, I loved you all.
Believe me, I knew you, though faintly, and I loved, I loved you
All.
The Mother tells of the speaker's lamentations of abortions past, and the feelings she harbors because of these abortions. She is haunted by what could have been: "You will never wind up the sucking-thumb/ Or scuttle off ghosts that come." The speaker feels as if she has stolen the lives of the aborted, referring to them as her "dim killed children." There is a clear mood of regret, sadness, and remorse as the speaker ends the poem saying "I love you all."
One device utilized in the poem is repetition in the last stanza. There is also repetition of imagery and themes--- tears, death, love and memories that would be. Rhyming is also present in the piece which follows AABBCCDD... etc. until the last stanza.
We Real Cool
We Real Cool
We real cool. We
Left School. We
Lurk late. We
Strike straight. We
Sing sin. We
Thin gin. We
Jazz June. We
Die soon.
Perhaps Gwendolyn Brooks best known poem, We Real Cool deals with the plight of young, urban African American teenagers. This subject matter would be considered typical for Brooks, who wrote almost exclusively about African American issues as well as all facets of life. We Real Cool tells the story of young African Americans skipping school ("We Left School") , staying out late at night ("We Lurk late") and playing pool ("We Strike Straight". They drink and make detrimental decisions, and their future is grim, evident by the last line, "We Die soon."
The line breaks in the poem are interesting and unconventional, but call attention to the issues at hand. Their abruptness lends itself well to the disturbing subject matter and social commentary on at risk youth. The poem would not be so striking if Brooks had just listed out the actions of the children. The capitalization of verbs is effective for the same reasons.
The incorrect grammar indicates the poor education of the speaker of the poem, most likely because he or she skips school often. It evokes sympathy in the reader, because the situation is all to familiar in urban communities-- the vicious cycle of lack of education, destructive decisions and other urban issues.
The rhyme scheme makes the poem compelling and memorable. Personally, I read this poem first in middle school. It has stuck with me to this day because of it's quick rhyme scheme and touching subject matter.
We real cool. We
Left School. We
Lurk late. We
Strike straight. We
Sing sin. We
Thin gin. We
Jazz June. We
Die soon.
Perhaps Gwendolyn Brooks best known poem, We Real Cool deals with the plight of young, urban African American teenagers. This subject matter would be considered typical for Brooks, who wrote almost exclusively about African American issues as well as all facets of life. We Real Cool tells the story of young African Americans skipping school ("We Left School") , staying out late at night ("We Lurk late") and playing pool ("We Strike Straight". They drink and make detrimental decisions, and their future is grim, evident by the last line, "We Die soon."
The line breaks in the poem are interesting and unconventional, but call attention to the issues at hand. Their abruptness lends itself well to the disturbing subject matter and social commentary on at risk youth. The poem would not be so striking if Brooks had just listed out the actions of the children. The capitalization of verbs is effective for the same reasons.
The incorrect grammar indicates the poor education of the speaker of the poem, most likely because he or she skips school often. It evokes sympathy in the reader, because the situation is all to familiar in urban communities-- the vicious cycle of lack of education, destructive decisions and other urban issues.
The rhyme scheme makes the poem compelling and memorable. Personally, I read this poem first in middle school. It has stuck with me to this day because of it's quick rhyme scheme and touching subject matter.
Gwendolyn Brooks: A Lifetime
Gwendolyn Brooks was born on June 7,1917 in Topeka, Kansas, however shortly after her family moved to Chicago, Illinois. She was born to supportive parents, her mother was a teacher and pianist, and her father a janitor who dreamed of being a doctor. Brooks was 13 when her first poem, "Eventide," was published in a children's magazine.
During college, Brooks worked with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). From this she drew inspiration for her first published work, A Street in Bronzeville. A Street in Bronzeville focused on the lives of African Americans living in the city.
Brooks published her only novel in the 1950s-- Maud Martha. It portrays an African American woman's life through vignettes,and deals with her struggle to fit in and find her place in the world. The book deals not only with segregation implemented by Caucasians, but also segregation from lighter skinned African Americans.
Gwendolyn Brooks was the Poet Laureate in 1968.
Brooks devoted her life to portraying African American, and is largely classified as an African American poet. She died in 2000, shortly after publishing her last work, In Montgomery.
During college, Brooks worked with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). From this she drew inspiration for her first published work, A Street in Bronzeville. A Street in Bronzeville focused on the lives of African Americans living in the city.
Brooks published her only novel in the 1950s-- Maud Martha. It portrays an African American woman's life through vignettes,and deals with her struggle to fit in and find her place in the world. The book deals not only with segregation implemented by Caucasians, but also segregation from lighter skinned African Americans.
Gwendolyn Brooks was the Poet Laureate in 1968.
Brooks devoted her life to portraying African American, and is largely classified as an African American poet. She died in 2000, shortly after publishing her last work, In Montgomery.
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