The Ballad of Rudolph Reed

“The Bean Eaters” by Gwendolyn Brooks (1960)

In another poem from The Bean Eaters, Brooks takes a subtle approach to representing working-class Black life. The subjects in this poem are an old couple who take comfort in each other as they eke out an existence in a poor apartment in Chicago. The poem connects thematically to “The Ballad of Rudolph Reed” in its examination of the reality of poverty and poor housing for Black people in Chicago during the 1950s. In the face of poverty and racism, family becomes an important source of resilience.

“The Last Quatrain of the Ballad of Emmett Till” by Gwendolyn Brooks (1960)

Also included in the same volume of poetry as “The Ballad of Rudolph Reed,” this poem contrasts sharply with “The Ballad of Rudolph Reed” in form and diction. Instead of relying on archaic language and regular rhyme and meter to represent racial violence, Brooks deconstructs the ballad by using stark, visual images and a realistic portrayal of a mother exhausted and horrified by the lynching of her son.

“We Real Cool” by Gwendolyn Brooks (1960)

Also included in The Bean Eaters, “We Real Cool” is a departure from many of Brooks’s poems because it has a strong rhythm that recalls the street games and sounds of young Black people of the inner city.