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A little learning poem analysis
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Free poem analysis
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Marianne Moore’s infamous poem, “Poetry,” expresses her dislike of poems that are “so derivative as to become unintelligible” (Moore line 11). In other words, Moore dislikes poems with stereotypical subjects because these works become so abstract they cannot be understood. Moore’s poem also alludes to the misconception that people and writers believe that poems must be hard to understand in order to express thoughts, imagery, and experience. However, Billy Collins’s poems, Workshop, Morning, Snow Day, On Turning Ten, and The Art of Drowning incorporate Collins’s thoughts, imagery, and experience without torturing the reader with an unnecessary abstract riddle. Collin’s poems embody the theme: a poem is not required to have a high level of …show more content…
In his poem Workshop, Collins analyzes a poem and records his thoughts. Collins bluntly states, “But then there’s the last stanza, my favorite./ This is where the poem wins me back,/ especially the lines spoken in the voice of the mouse./ I mean we’ve all seen these image in cartoons before,/ but I still love the details he uses” ( Collins line 54). Collins refrains from using abstract language and simply puts his original thoughts into a rhythmic pattern to create Workshop. Similar to Workshop, The Art of Drowning depicts Collins’s thoughts and questions about how “life flashes before your eyes”. In his poem Collins writes, “I wonder how it all got started, this business/ about seeing your life flash before your eyes/ while you drown, as if panic, or the act of submergence,/ …How about a short animated film, a slide presentation? Your life expressed in an essay, or in one model photograph?” (Collins 1-11). In this poem, Collins expresses his thoughts on the way people experience “life flashing before their eyes” when put in a dire or life-threatening situation and questions how and why it started. Collins compiles his unique thoughts on this universal “phenomenon” into an understandable poem. Through Billy Collins’s Workshop and The Art of Drowning, he proves that poems can be written without a riddle to convey …show more content…
In Collins’s poems Morning, he portrays his morning routine. “This is the best-/ throwing off the light covers,/ feet on the cold floor,/ and buzzing around the hour on espresso-/maybe a splash of water on the face,/ a palmful of vitamins-/ but mostly buzzing around the house on espresso” (Collins 5). Billy Collins’s purpose of this poem is to describe a typical morning. He has no intention of using abstract language in this poem because it would take away the focus of the topic of the poem: his typical morning. Collins also describe his experience growing up in his poem On Turning Ten. “ The whole idea of it makes me feel/ like I’m coming down with something,/ something worse than any stomach ache/ …This is the beginning of sadness, I say to myself,/ as I walk through the universe in my sneakers./ It is time to say good-bye to my imaginary friends,/ time to turn the first big number” ( Collins 1-24). Collins uses this poem as a way to express the experience of growing up and the sadness that comes with it. There is no other hidden meaning, this poem is simply about growing up. Collins exclaims the morning and aging experience that one always goes through without using confusing concepts or
the surface structure of these poems appears simplistic, but subtle changes in tone or gesture move the reader from the mundane to the sublime. In an attempt to sleep, the speaker in "Insomnia" moves from counting sheep to envisioning Noah's arc to picturing "all the fish in creation/ leaping a fence in a field of water,/ one colorful species after another." Collins will tackle any topic: his subject matter varies from snow days to Aristotle to forgetfulness. Collins relies heavily on imagery, which becomes the cornerstone of the entire volume, and his range of diction brings such a polish to these poems
Poetry is a very subjective art it is up to the authors to determine how they want to convey their message to the readers. Both Ezra Pound’s poem “In the Station Metro” and Emma LaRocque’s poem “The Red in Winter” use imagery, that is very subjective to interpretation, to convey their message in an economic manner. Pound’s artistic imagist poem shows that art isn’t just visual but it can also be portrayed through words alone; and that imagery is a powerful aspect of poetry. LaRaque’s however is focused on how images can portray political issues among differing cultures.
Poetry is something that is to be read delicately and cautiously if one wanted to find meaning through the words. Readers have to be gentle and patiently ponder about what they are reading in order to find any significance in the poem. If someone is not patient with reading, they will not feel impacted by poetry and will not want to read it. In Billy Collins’, “Introduction to Poetry,” he uses figurative language to help readers see that the way to enjoy and understand poetry is by reading between the lines and being patient with how each individual relates to the readings.
The fear of reading literature and not being able to comprehend the ideas presented forces readers to create a deeper meaning through annotations, as expressed through Billy Collins’ use of comparative imagery and aggressive diction in “Marginalia” and “Introduction to Poetry.” Collins’ choice to
Good poetry provides meaningful commentary. One indication of a poem’s success in this is the depth of thought the reader has as a result of the poem. The poems I anthologized may take different
“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…” (3); so begins a poem titled “Introduction To Poetry” by Billy Collins. “Introduction To Poetry” is, in fact, the introduction to a collection of poetry called Poetry 180, a program started by Collins during his time as poet laureate for the United States. The aim of this program is to get people, especially teenagers, interested in or reconnected with poetry. Collins selected an assortment of poems that are just fun to read and not meant to be discussed; he says in the forward to the collection, “High school is the focus of my program because all too often it is the place where poetry goes to die” (xvii). Collins was honored with the title of poet laureate in 2001 because of his own outstanding poetry. Billy Collins is considered by some to be the greatest American poet since Robert Frost because he connects with his readers, he makes the mysterious ordinary, and he portrays the ordinary as mysterious.
Throughout his poetry, Collins demonstrates, in a witty and satirical voice, his insightfulness towards the objects, using numerous poetic devices, especially allusions and metaphors to effectively convey his messages, most of which revolves around the theme of death. Humor and irony are unique combinations Collins displays in many of his poems, challenging the readers to interpret his work from different perspectives. In “Introduction to Poetry,” Collins offers a witty comparison between the definition of poetry and various other experiments. He asks the reader to “hold [the poem] up to the light/ like a color slide” (1-3), “press an ear against its hive” (4), “drop a mouse into a poem” (5), “walk inside the poem's room” (7), and “waterski across the surface of a poem” (9-10). Rather than stiffly explaining the definition of a poem, he finds creative and humorous approaches to explain his methods of enjoying the poems, and promote the readers’ interest towards discovering the true meaning of poetry.
In today’s modern view, poetry has become more than just paragraphs that rhyme at the end of each sentence. If the reader has an open mind and the ability to read in between the lines, they discover more than they have bargained for. Some poems might have stories of suffering or abuse, while others contain happy times and great joy. Regardless of what the poems contains, all poems display an expression. That very moment when the writer begins his mental journey with that pen and paper is where all feelings are let out. As poetry is continues to be written, the reader begins to see patterns within each poem. On the other hand, poems have nothing at all in common with one another. A good example of this is in two poems by a famous writer by the name of Langston Hughes. A well-known writer that still gets credit today for pomes like “ Theme for English B” and “Let American be American Again.”
Poetry, loved by some, hated by others, but one way or another one is coerced or driven to read it. Poet’s for years use poetry to express feelings, emotions, circumstances, or to share their thoughts on death, and life. Billy Collins is a well acclaimed American born poet that uses humor to lighten a serious subject, as well as, making his poems less formal allowing readers to relate to them easier. “Collins has striven to write poetry that is "hospitable" (a word he prefers to "accessible") to his readers” (Bell). For instance, Collins’ 1998 poem “On Turning Ten,” is a coming of age story in which the narrator, a boy, the age of nine, recollects his early childhood and becomes dismayed about aging. In this poem, he uses simple techniques
In both of the poems, "Introduction to Poetry" and "Trouble with Poetry", Collins makes an interesting form of observation of the world he lives in while possibly explaining his daily life or experiences.
During the process of growing up, we are taught to believe that life is relatively colorful and rich; however, if this view is right, how can we explain why literature illustrates the negative and painful feeling of life? Thus, sorrow is inescapable; as it increase one cannot hide it. From the moment we are born into the world, people suffer from different kinds of sorrow. Even though we believe there are so many happy things around us, these things are heartbreaking. The poems “Tips from My Father” by Carol Ann Davis, “Not Waving but Drowning” by Stevie Smith, and “The Fish” by Elizabeth Bishop convey the sorrow about growing up, about sorrowful pretending, and even about life itself.
In Conclusion, Billy Collins use of irony in both the setting and the description of the stereotypical students helped strengthen the allusion of the poem. The students in the poem are in an eternal school lifestyle as opposed to being in a normal town environment. Aspects of the setting, such as the landscape being made out of paper and the night sky being compared to a blackboard painted a descriptive picture in the mind of the reader, making the allusion more believable and relatable. Also, the use of stereotypes in this poem added on to the allusion of the school environment, giving life to the society in the town created by Collins. At first, the poem may seem like only an allusion, but with a closer look, you can see the reality behind it all.
Poetry is a way for authors to express their feelings on life, whether it be current events, past memories, or just abstract thought. Some poets write stories using poetry, while others write short simple imaginative journeys. One poet, Rita Dove, uses her poetry to reflect upon her past actions as a child. Her poems create extraordinary sensory experiences in the reader, mostly being visualizations that the reader can image. Both “Geometry” and “Grape Sherbet”, by Rita Dove, are similar in that they express a commonality between Dove’s childhood, and experiences people have in the present day by using common poetic devices like imagery, symbolism, and personification.
The popular American Poet, Billy Collins, is playing a significant role in the evolution of poetry. His writing style evokes an array of emotions for the reader. Every stanza in his poetry passes the satirical standard that he generated for himself over his career. Collins swiftly captivates his readers through his diverse use of figurative language. More specifically, his use of vivid imagery paired with humorous personification and extended metaphors create his unique style of satirical poetry. This developed form of writing appeals to a large crowd of people because the generally accessible topics that he discusses are fairly easy to resonate for the common man. However, his poetry offers an interesting perspective on what otherwise would be simplistic ideas. The main themes and concepts that are being presented in each of his writings are revered and coveted by the general population. An appealing aspect of his writing is his ability to directly convey the main idea within the poem. As a result, the reader can understand the meaning of his work with ease. The typical beginning of his work gives the reader a slight taste of what is to come. Billy Collins’ unique writing style and various trademarks directly influenced by his ability to propagate an array of emotions for the reader, his humorous tone, and the accessibility of the topics he describes within his poetry.
“Billy Collins' “Introduction to Poetry” isn’t an ars poetica poem about writing poetry, but about reading poetry. The speaker is a teacher who tells his students that they should experience a poem, rather than dissect it. The f...