Introduction to Poetry by Billy Collins

Sam Cimino

Mr. Hamilton

AP Literature 6th hour

3 November 2014

Introduction to Poetry

By: Billy Collins

Biography on Bill Collins:

According to the Poetry Foundation, Billy Collins has been dubbed “the most popular poet in America” by Bruce Weber in the New York Times, Billy Collins is famous for conversational, witty poems that welcome readers with humor but often slip into quirky, tender or profound observation on the everyday, reading and writing, and poetry itself. We see an example of why he has been given that prestigious title in his poem "Introduction to Poetry".

I ask them to take a poem 

and hold it up to the light 

Like a color slide 

 

Or press an ear against its hive 

 

I say drop a mouse into a poem

And watch him prove his way out, 

 

Or walk inside the poem's room 

And feel the walls for a light switch.

 

I want them to waterski

Across the surface of a poem

Waving at the author's name on the shore 

 

But all they want to do 

Is tie the poem to a chair with rope

And torture a confession out of it.

 

They begin beating it with a hose 

To find out what it really means.

 

Analysis:

This poem is very clever. I appreciate the author's use of imagery in order to describe something that happens not just in poetry but in real life as well. Often time people seek meaning in life and try to answer questions that sometimes we don't know and truly don't need to know the answer to. Being consumed in the pursuit of knowledge causes us to miss out on the beauty of the people, things, and ideas that surround us each day. The brevity of the poem stems from Collin's idea that we do not need an elongated, extensive, or far-reaching explanation of a simple poem or facet of life. The first stanza talks about the initial fascination when we see a new piece of literary work. We gaze upon it "like a color slide," and it is in that initial moment that we begin to realize the beauty of what is in front of us. If we were to "press an ear against its hive," as Collins suggested we may be able to hear the buzz of the ideas that the author eloquently wrote on the page. In the following three stanzas, Collins creates various images of discovery for us to identify with. From the exploration of a mouse into the "maze" of the poem, to walking around the dark room of the poem and trying to find the light (meaning), to waterskiing across the surface of the poem and waving at the author, the message is clear. Appreciate the beauty in front of us. Do not get caught up in research or in trying to find the meaning because then we fail and we lose the beauty of the poem itself. At the end of the poem, Billy Collins portrays an image that I feel we see a lot in this class. He personifies the poem and describes it being "tied down, tortured, and beaten with a hose in order to get a confession or some meaning out of it." This idea of "overkill" when it comes to analyzing a literary work is a trap that I feel our class falls into a lot. We try to seek out meaning for every line and sometimes we lose the quality of the work because we are looking for a large quantity of answers. Billy Collins' "An Introduction to Poetry," reminds us that poetry, along with life is a journey and it is not so much about the destination as it is how you get there. So step back and appreciate the beauty around you before it is too late.