“The Bean Eaters” is primarily an innovative or American sonnet that includes elements of the English and Italian sonnets. Its rime scheme is AABA CDCD EFGHF. It resembles the English sonnet with its two rimed quatrains but is more like the Italian in its use of octave and sestet, which is reduced to a cinquain. Also, the Italian sonnet’s rime scheme allows for more variation than the English sonnet, and this sonnet’s rime scheme is quite innovative.
The most important difference is its having been reduced from fourteen lines to thirteen. This reduction is a logical response to the theme of poverty. The old couple mostly eats beans and their living quarters suggests a limited income.
First Quatrain: “They eat beans mostly, this old yellow pair"
In the first quatrain, the speaker describes the old couple at dinner, which is “a casual affair.” Conversely, a formal affair would require opulent dinnerware, not “chipware,” on a well-appointed table, not “on a plain and creaking wood.” And the utensils employed at a formal affair would be elegant “silverware,” not “[t]in flatware.”
Of course, as the title suggests these old people are dining on “beans.” The speaker suggests that “this old yellow pair” is probably not well nourished, but they convey a respectable level of health despite their meager foodstuffs.
Second Quatrain: “Two who are Mostly Good”
The speaker then offers further description of the couple: they are “Mostly Good.” In this case, “Mostly Good” indicates that they break no laws and have good relationship with each other. Because there is no one else in the poem, the reader infers that the couple has probably outlived most of their relatives and friends.
The couple’s strength of character is demonstrated in their persistence; they keep on keeping on as they “keep on putting on their clothes / And putting things away.” What might strike others as a boring existence seems to work well for his old “yellow pair.”
Cinquain: “And remembering”
In addition to their mostly eating beans, being mostly good, putting their clothes on each day, and putting other things away, they savor their memories. They share with each other their memories as they enjoy their beans. The things in their “rented back room” indicate the kinds of memories they must share: “beads and receipts and dolls and cloths, / tobacco crumbs, vases and fringes.”
“Beads” indicate a fondness for color and beauty, probably given to the wife by the husband on special occasions. “Receipts” show they are careful with their money. “Dolls” suggest they had children, while “cloths” signify material for making doll clothes and also rags with which to clean and dust. “Tobacco crumbs” indicate pipe smoking. And “vases,” which would hold flowers, again denote a love of beauty, as do “fringes” that would hang from bedspreads or chair covers.
Commentary
The speaker is not present in the poem, because the speaker’s only task is to give a lean description of the old couple’s life. At first, that life may seem dull, but upon due reflection, the reader will understand that this couple’s life is portrayed as quite full—with peace, strength, and love.
Another Brooks article: Gwendolyn Brooks' Cool Poems: 'We Real Cool' and Other Poems
Linda Sue Grimes - As a writer, researcher, and SRF devotee, Linda Sue Grimes has studied poetry and practiced Kriya Yoga for over thirty years..
Join the Conversation