They eat beans mostly, this old yellow pair. / Dinner is a casual affair.
-- Speaker (Lines 1 – 2)

Importance: These lines begin the poem and immediately establish several of its key aspects. By opening the poem with the phrase “They eat beans” (1), Brooks establishes that the poem is about the Bean Eaters of the title, but it is not narrated by them. It thus represents not their own perspective but that of someone observing them. Much has been made by critics of the description “old yellow pair” (1), as both a racial signifier and an indication of the weathering that accompanies old age. The almost oxymoronic term “casual affair” (2) introduces the poem’s ironic tone towards the material trappings of wealth and suggests that the Bean Eaters’ dinner table is as worthy of public attention as one that might be found in the dining room of a mansion.

Plain chipware on a plain and creaking wood, / Tin...
-- Speaker (Lines 3 – 4)