Answer:
This poem is about the dismal yet rich simplicity of a long life together. The structure of the poem highlights this theme. The rhythm and rhyme scheme are predictable and even. The rhyme scheme is aaba cded fghig. The last stanza is unexpected, with varying line lengths in contrast to the couple's life, which is predictable and ordinary. The words "Mostly Good" are capitalized to put emphasis on those words as if this is their great achievement. The last stanza holds the treasures. The word "remembering" is repeated to show that their memories are important. Their other treasures are odd ordinary items.
The elements of sound also contribute to the theme. Repetition is used to show the repetitiveness of the couple's existence. "Plain" and "two who" are repeated to emphasize the focus of the poem. In addition, the poem uses assonance in the words "lean," "beans," "beads" and "receipts." These words are ordinary items, but to the couple these are all the things they have. Rhyme is also used, but in unexpected ways. "Two who" is internal rhyme, while "twinges" and "hinges" are end rhyme, but they lie three lines apart. The unexpected rhyme highlights the unexpected idea that these poor people with such an ordinary existence have twinkling, twinges, and treasures that they hold dear.
Finally, the elements of figurative language contribute to the meaning of the "Bean Eaters." Symbolism of ordinary treasure is seen in the "beads and receipts and dolls and cloths, tobacco crumbs, vases, and fringes." Imagery is used to show the age of the couple when they are described as "yellow." The "creaking wood" is a sound image that shows how poor the couple is. Putting on their clothes and putting things away are metaphors and synecdoche for all the ordinary tasks that fill up our lives and make time pass. Synecdoche is also seen in the line "who have lived their day." The day represents entire lives.