Introduction to Poetry
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By
Billy Collins
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William James Collins, Billy, is an
American poet, appointed as Poet
Laureate of the United States from 2001
to 2003. He is a Distinguished Professor at
Lehman College of the City University of
New York and is the Senior Distinguished
Fellow of the Winter Park Institute,
Florida. Collins was recognized as a
Literary Lion of the New York Public
Library (1992) and selected as the New
York State Poet for 2004-2006.
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Collins was born in New York City to William and
Katherine Collins. Katherine Collins was a nurse who
stopped working to raise the couple's only child. Mrs.
Collins had the ability to recite verses on almost any
subject, which she often did, and cultivated in her
young son the love of words, both written and spoken.
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A poet laureate is a poet officially appointed
by a government, or conferring agency, who is
often expected to compose poems for special
events and occasions. The term dates back to
the appointment of Bernard André by King
Henry VII of England.
Review
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A figure of speech that
makes a comparison
between two unlike
things using the word
“like” or “as”.
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A comparison of two
unlike things, without
using the words “like” or
“as” in the comparison.
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Metaphors are very common in everyday language. But
poets also like to use metaphors. In the following famous
verse (from The Highwayman by Alfred Noyes), can you
spot three metaphors in the first three lines?
The wind was a torrent of darkness among the gusty
trees,
The moon was a ghostly galleon tossed upon cloudy
seas,
The road was a ribbon of moonlight over the purple
moor,
And the highwayman came riding-Riding--riding-The highwayman came riding, up to the old inn-door.
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A figure of speech that
compares two unlike
things at some length
and in several ways. It
does not contain the
word like or as .
Example of Extended
Metaphors In Poetry
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Billy Collins writes
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what “they” want to do
to poetry in his poem,
“Introduction to Poetry.”
He feels that reading poetry is to experience it--hear it, see it, and feel it. Reading poetry should be
less about constructing meaning. That is not to say
that it should not be analyzed or discussed, but that
the experience of reading it should be more
important than anything else.
From Elite Skills Classics
Read the poem,
“Introduction to Poetry,”
and visualize what the
poet, Billy Collins is
describing.
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I ask them to take a poem
And hold it up to the light
like a color slide
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Or press an ear against its hive.
I say drop a mouse into a poem
and watch him probe his way out.
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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.
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But all they want to do
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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.
How do the words
chosen by Billy
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Collins appeal to the senses?
What image described by
Collins changed the way you
thought about poetry?
Tell about the extended metaphor in the
last two stanzas of “Introduction to
Poetry.”