Billy Collins

After reading Billy Collins, I found myself really enjoying his poetry, actually wanting to read more. Most of the time, I do not like poetry. I often find it to be long and annoying. I usually can’t tell you a theme, unless I read a poem three or four times. I appreciate the art of poetry. I can’t fathom the skill and talent it takes to write the deep, complicated poems with seemingly endless amount of detail that points to a theme. I just usually don’t enjoy that type of poetry. (I also may still be bitter about reading an endless amount of poetry senior in high school) However, Billy Collins poetry is very enjoyable. He has a unique ability to make poetry simple. And, the simplicity of his poems reveals his wittiness and cleverness. 

            My favorite poem of his that shows off his skill is “Introduction to Poetry”. By chance, this was the first poem I read from his collection of works. This poem was a great way to be introduced to Billy Collins. He tells his readers to enjoy poetry, not to beat out a life-altering theme. He even said, “I want them to water-ski across the surface of a poem waving at the author’s name on the shore.” This stuck out to me because I have always been the person who would force themes into poems. I had to find a deeper meaning in every poem. At one point last year in my senior English class, if I could not figure out the theme of a poem, I would simply find one of my collection of themes in my mind and make it apply in some way to the poem. Collins, though, tells us to make poetry simple. He wants the reader to enjoy his works. With this attitude, I would contend that a reader gets more out of a poem than if a reader is forced to find themes in poems he does not enjoy.  Reading this poem set a wonderful stage for the rest of his works.

            The next poem I really enjoyed was “Another Reason Why I Don’t Keep a Gun in the House”. In this poem, Collins is apparently very angry at a dog that is barking constantly. By the end of the poem, though, Collins says the dog is part of Beethoven’s symphony. I enjoyed this poem mainly because of the cleverness and simple idea. I’m guessing that most people at some time in their life have been annoyed with a barking dog. Collins takes this simple idea of annoyance and creates a clever and humorous idea of the dog being in a symphony. He makes something obnoxious and takes a different approach, finding the good, not the bad.  He says that “Beethoven included a part of barking dog” and that “other musicians listen in respectful silence to the famous barking dog solo.”  I really enjoyed how he took an idea that everyone can relate to and twist it in a way that readers can find humor and enjoyment.

            There are many poems like the two I mentioned before that display Collins ability to take a simple idea and turn into a thought provoking, entertaining piece that provides vivid and clever detail and imagery. I look forward to reading more of his poems and listening to him during his book reading.