The Poetry of Billy Collins

The Poetry of Billy Collins

In 2001 a new poet laureate was crowned and a new voice; the voice of

a poetic everyman was heard by many for the first time. That voice

belonged to Billy Collins. Collins was born into a working-class Bronx

couple, and grew up in a typical middle-class neighborhood where he

went to church on Sundays and listened to jazz music in his free time.

This middle-class background and sensibilities are reflected in his

poetic style and themes, and in his desire to bring poetry back into

the American main stream by making it more accessible to the average

reader.

Billy Collins was born March 22, 1941 in Queens, New York. He was born

into a middle class family. His parents were of Irish descent, and had

deep roots in the Irish Catholic religion (Press). Both of his parents

held steady jobs; his father was an insurance broker, and his mother

was a nurse. During Billy Collins’ years up until middle school, he

had received a below average education, attending a public school in

the Bronx. However, his father became very successful and rather

wealthy. Billy and his family then moved to Westchester County, a

wealthy New York suburb, where he attended a prestigious private

school. After high school, Billy attended Holy Cross College where he

received his bachelors degree, then went on to get his Ph.D. in

Romantic poetry at the University of California at Riverside. Billy

began his Career in poetry as a writer for “Rolling Stones” magazine,

selling his poems for thirty-five dollars each (Billy Collins). In

1970, after his job in “Rolling Stones”, he got a position teaching

poetry at Lehman College, located in the Bronx, where he is still

teaching. Along with his teaching career, he served...

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...shows Collins’ love of music and familiarity with

jazz. It can also be appreciated on two different levels. You can

enjoy the dreamy description of a jazz club, but also the deeper

discussion on the topic of beauty.

Despite his upbringing in a middle class home, and his poor education

as a child, Collins has become a very well known and highly respected

poet, whose middle class backgrounds have had a large influence on his

poetry, as well as his goal to make poetry more accessible to the

average reader. Collins has had a very successful career, publishing

several poetry books and being the Poet Laureate of the U.S. from

2001-2003.

Collins has a very unique style of poetry that has appeal to both the

average person, being both easy to read and humorous to the normal

person, and the more sophisticated reader by having a deeper more

complex meanings.