billy collins

[swtytoothdmdmen.livejournal.com]

Introduction to Poetry
Billy Collins


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 probe 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.

Comments

Billy Collins is trying to soften your brain.

[jane-klimt.livejournal.com]

Sure, waterskiing is fun, but so are swimming and scuba-diving. There's nothing wrong with getting into the depths of a poem.

Re: Billy Collins is trying to soften your brain.

[jane-klimt.livejournal.com]

I agree that the poem itself is not actually forbidding the deeper reading of poetry. If, however, you look at it in the context of Collins' work - a textbook of work "accessible at first glance" for students - a collection of "Poetry for the senses" ("poetry you only have to glance at to enjoy!")- it becomes harder to deny that Collins is in effect scorning all poetry that requires thought to understand.
This particular poem is, of course, accesible at a glance. One can read it, smile, nod, and move on without giving it much thought. It is presented in a way almost impossible to disagree with - until you realize that everything he has been working towards as one of our most beloved poet laureates is brainless poetry.
Now, I am not, at all, saying that the surface of poetry is a bad place to be. The surface - the words themselves, in my mind, though in Collins' case the meaning also is on the surface - is perhaps the most important part of the poem. Complexity of language as connected to meaning, however, should not be eliminated or reviled. As a passionate admirer of John Berryman's "Homage to Mistress Bradstreet," I am still working my way into the poem. The surface I have enjoyed many times, thrilling at the word choice and order even when unsure what they mean. The further into the poem I find myself, though, the more I appreciate and enjoy Berryman's masterful writing.

Re: Billy Collins is trying to soften your brain.

[swtytoothdmdmen.livejournal.com]

hm... that's really interesting. I've never looked at Collins' poetry as part of a context. so, this, I had not picked up. I don't know if that(to soften the brain with surface poems) is necessarily his mission, I'd have to study the matter for myself, but you do raise an interesting theory. Meanwhile, the surface of this poem, continues to be my favorite of his works, which is ironic, because scuba-diving poems are more my thing.

anyway, that's it.

Re: Billy Collins is trying to soften your brain.

[vermillion-sky.livejournal.com]

it's true that collins writes poetry that is "easy" and "accessible," and i think some poetry snobs (like myself, for instance,) dislike it, or refuse to like it, for that reason. i, too, prefer poems that don't immediately yield up all they have to offer in the very first reading. however, i don't think collins' poems are "brainless," as you say they are. rather, they are poems for people who don't "get" poetry, people who think that poetry is, by definition, inscrutable and difficult. true, his work consists of a few gems amidst a pile of rubble, but can't one say the same about most other poets as well?