Introduction to Poetry- by Billy Collins
Analysis and Interpretation
The subject of the poem Introduction to Literature is how to read/teach a poem. The
two opinions presented are the opinion of the poet/ speaker who describes how he
would like readers to read the poem; and the opinion of the readers/ students who
want to find out as quickly as possible what the poem means.
In the poem, the poet/ speaker asks the readers to take the poem and look at it closely.
He compares the poem to a color slide, implying that when we hold it up to the light,
we can see the images more clearly. In the same way, the poem has "color', or
meaning, but we must look closely to see it. He asks the students to listen to the poem
carefully as though listening to the activity of a beehive. The poem has sound as well
as color.
In lines 5-6, the poet compares the poem to a maze. The reader must use different
interpretations to find his way through the poem, like a mouse probing his way out of
a maze. Then the poet suggests another way to capture the meaning of the poem. He
asks the students to explore the poem with all their senses, as they would explore a
dark room looking for the light switch. He implies that when they find the switch,
they will 'see the light", or understand the message the poem.
In lines 9-11, the students are asked to "play" with the poem acknowledging the poet
but not letting him dictate his ideas ("waving at the author's name on the shore"), the
poet claims that the students attack the poem as though it is intentionally keeping the
message from them. He says that they should not panic if they don't immediately
understand the message. Instead of reading the poem with creative insight, the
students beat it "with a hose" for the message, which it would give them only treated
it more gently. The speaker feels that students usually attack the poem and
immediately begin to analyze it. They become frustrated when they don't get the
meaning immediately and try to force the meaning out of the poem instead of letting it
come to them gradually.
Literary Terms
imagery and personification
HOTs to be use in the poem:
Inferring- reading between the lines/ try to understand what the poem means
Distinguish different Perspectives- the poet's view verses the readers' view