The Bean Eaters Analysis - Literary devices and Poetic devices

The Bean Eaters

By Gwendolyn Brooks

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.

Summary of The Bean Eaters

Popularity of “The Bean Eaters”: This beautiful poem by the popular poet Gwendolyn Brooks, first appeared in her collection in 1960. Although the poet was already popular after she bagged prestigious prizes such as the Pulitzer and some others for her poetic output, she again emerged with such universal and popular themes in her poems. The poem again appeared in different collections published by different publishers in 1963, such as Selected Poems by Harper & Row. The beauty of the poem lies in the presentation with two rhyming stanzas and a third with a very long verse having several actions that the couple does. The popularity of the poem rests on presenting the day-to-day life of this old couple.
“The Bean Eaters” As a Representative of Conjugal Love and Old Age: The speaker of the poem, who is the poet herself, is standing in a high place looking at the elderly couple whom he calls “old yellow pair” to show their old age. He states that they mostly eat beans just as if it were their casual affair. They have very simple tin utensils and chipware furniture. They are just going from hand to mouth and living with simple clothes. Their activities, she states, range from putting on clothes and then putting things here and there to pass their day. However, the last stanza shows that the speaker knows that they have memories. Whenever they do this or that task, they remember things, and their eyes show their memories of the sweet old days. These implicit meanings lie hidden behind different activities they perform in their dwelling somewhere in the far-off corner of the world.
Major Themes in “The Bean Eaters”: The beauty of old age, the day-to-day activities of an old couple, and memories of old age are three major themes of this poem. The poet beautifully presents an old couple stating that serving dinner to themselves and then living a simple and frugal life is their daily activity. This simple lifestyle rather presents the beauty of their life and living style. However, with it, the beauty lies in their simple day-to-day activities with simple furniture and simple food. The poet tells the readers how they just put on clothes and then put things away and pass their day. However, the most beautiful thing lives in their minds. Whenever they perform different tasks, they just recall things as they have loads of memories that the poet has called “remembering,” with corresponding reactions and feelings in their eyes while they continue performing their day-to-day activities.

Analysis of Literary Devices Used in The Bean Eaters

Gwendolyn Brooks shows her skill in using literary devices in this poem. Some of the major literary devices used here are as follows.

Anaphora: It means the use of repetition of words and phrases at the beginning of consecutive verses. The poet shows the use of anaphora, such as “Two who” in the second stanza.
Assonance: Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in the same line, such as the sound of /a/ in “Dinner is a casual affair” and the sound of /a/ again in “Plain chipware on a plain and creaking wood.”
Consonance: Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line, such as the sound of /p/ in “Plain chipware on a plain and creaking wood” and the sound of /w/ as well as /d/ in “Two who have lived their day.”
Enjambment: It is defined as a thought in verse that does not come to an end at a line break; rather, it rolls over to the next line. For example;

Two who are Mostly Good.
Two who have lived their day,
But keep on putting on their clothes
And putting things away.

Imagery: Imagery is used to make readers perceive things involving their five senses. Gwendolyn Brooks has used imagery in this poem such as “Plain chipware on a plain and creaking wood”, “Remembering, with twinklings and twinges” and “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.”
Metaphor: It is a figure of speech in which an implied comparison is made between objects different in nature. The poem shows the use of a metaphor when the poet calls the couple “this old yellow pair.” It shows as if they are some sort of a pair loosely joined together.
Symbolism: Symbolism is using symbols to signify ideas and qualities, giving them symbolic meanings that are different from the literal meanings. The poem shows symbols such as pair, beans, dinner, wood, and flatware to show the living activities of the old couple.

Analysis of Poetic Devices Used in The Bean Eaters

Poetic devices are similar to literary devices, yet they differ in nature. With the help of poetic devices, the poet sets the mood of the poem. The analysis of some of the poetic devices used in this poem is as follows.

Diction: It means the type of language. The poem shows the use of formal and poetic diction bedecked with images and devices.
End Rhyme: End rhyme is used to make the stanza melodious. Gwendolyn Brooks has used end rhyme in this poem, such as “pair/affair” and “day/away.”
Quatrain: A quatrain is a four-lined stanza borrowed from Persian poetry. Here each stanza is quatrain.
Rhyme Scheme: The poem follows the AABA rhyme scheme in the first, ABCB in the second, and ABB in the third one having a long verse.
Stanza: A stanza is a poetic form of some lines. This poem has three stanzas, with the first two comprising four verses and the third having three verses.

Quotes to be Used

The following lines are useful to quote about a couple living away from the humdrum of city or urban life.