I had read this poem previously in my poetry class and
thought this was one of the best poems I had ever read. The first thing I
notice about it is how it’s formatted into four stanzas with eight lines, and
has the repetition of the word “We”. “We” begins the poem and ends at every
line except the last one, indicating the person speaking had died. But it also
leaves me curious as to who “We” is. Are they the narrator’s friends, complete
strangers, or a gang the narrator is sort of following in line with, or maybe
the narrator is the leader of the gang?
Also it says near the title:
The pools players.
Seven at the Golden
Shovel.
I think with the pools players go with the eight lines and
how you never want to knock the number eight ball in. Also I think the lines:
“We
Strike straight.” Are
talking about playing pool.
Then with the seven at Golden Shovel, I think the number in
there is significant as well and how at casinos the lucky number is seven. So I’m
assuming the Golden Shovel is a casino and a sort of night club where the
narrator spends his/her time throughout the poem or perhaps I'm overlooking this:
“We
Sing sin. We
Thin gin.” (1463)
But overall, I think the main message of this poem is about
breaking rules, living fast and dying young or just being an outcast when
everyone else is in school, making curfews and living longer:
“We
Jazz June. We
Die soon.”
I love your observation of the format, the number of lines and the "seven at Golden Shovel", definitely didn't notice that until you pointed it out! I've never been a huge fan of poetry all that much, but that is something that I'm growing to love about it: the meaning and symbolism in the smallest of details; something you wouldn't necessarily find in prose.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Karyn about how interesting your observations of this poem are. When I first read this poem I did not think to associate its set up and meaning with that of a game of pool. It is all very interesting that the last line of the poem could relate to someone hitting the eight ball in and thus ending the game of pool, or in the poems case, life.
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