A Critical Analysis of the Poem - We Real Cool

A Critical Analysis of the Poem - We Real Cool

"We Real Cool" is a simple poem yet, it conveys a meaningful message that talks about the teenagers who are doing things that they shouldn't do. At first glance, one might not fully understand its message but once you analyze it carefully, you'll realize that behind all those simple and rhyming words, lays a wonderful message.

The teenagers, according to the first stanza, left school probably in order for them to seem cool. They stealthily roam around late and broke the rules repetitively. The teenagers, in the poem, are expressing themselves through transgressions, like drinking alcohols. They ridicule school. But eventually, these teenagers will come to their senses and stop what they've been doing wrong.

'Lurk', in the second stanza, means that the teenagers are doing something in secret while 'strike straight', means that whatever they did, has been done repetitively. 'Sing' in the third stanza, means expression. In music and arts, singing is one of the many things that a person can do to fully express his/her feelings. The teenagers in this poem can only express their feelings by doing wrong things. 'Jazz', in the last stanza, means lively and fun. 'June' signifies school. Jazz literally, is a kind of lively music. June is the time when students go to school. In this poem, the teenagers made the school lively in order for them to have fun. 'Die' means to stop. When someone or something dies, everything in their life stops. They stop breathing, they stop living. The teenagers in the poem will eventually stop doing wrong and realize that what they've been doing will only hurt themselves.

The poem uses an unusual form than most poems. "We" is on the end of every line and the actions of the delinquents on the beginning of each line. I think that the author wrote the actions on the beginning of every line to give emphasis to the actions of the youths. Instead of giving emphasis to "We", I think the author wants the readers to notice the things that the teenagers have done.

The author wants to open our eyes about the problems of teenagers. The poem tells us what is on the mind of delinquents who doesn't realize the things that they have done wrong.