"We" (The Pool Players, Seven at the Golden Shovel)
The majority of this ten-line poem—eight of its lines—are spoken together by a chorus of voices labelled "The Pool Players, Seven at the Golden Shovel." They are a self-conscious bunch of young people, presumably men, who skip school to play pool and drink. The rhythmic nature of their speech in the poem along with the subject matter of their lines suggests a fixation and glorification of vice and suggests that they feel their "coolness" derives from engaging in these vices; however, reading closely into their lines reveals a vulnerable self-reflection and fatalism. These young men aren't simply burnouts wasting their time and shirking responsibility. They are sensitive, self-conscious, and understand how they are often perceived by outsiders.
The observer
This poem technically has two speakers. While we understand that the center of the poem, the most important lines spoken by the "We," are a collective voice, there is also the introduction that sets the stage and establishes the "We." The stage-setter's diction is blunter and is formatted like a title. The spareness of the language in these first two lines prevents the observer from leveling any form of judgment on the pool players, keeping this "character" completely impartial.
