How Does Billy Collins Use Personification In Introduction To Poetry

In “The Trouble with Poetry” and “Introduction to Poetry” Billy Collins speaks about two different topics , however he is able to demonstrate his personal perspective of poetry and poets by using figurative language. Throughout both the poems the speaker uses vivid imagery ,so that the audience is able to comprehend what he is saying. One of the poems regrades the interpretation of poetry, while the other is about the poets themselves. In the “Introduction to poetry” and “ The Trouble with Poetry” Billy Collins develops his message by using figurative language and vivid imagery.

Arguably the most popular poet in America, Billy Collins provides readers with two types of poetry that is nothing like typical poetry. One of his unique styles is writing as if the poem could be read like a novel. The other type brings humor and whimsy to his work, yet he hints at a seriousness that lies beneath the surface. Both styles of poetry are easy to read, but take a second look to realize what the Collins is intending the reader to understand. Billy Collins is an exceptionally talented poet whose writing at first can be taken to be a simple comedy but when read more carefully, it can be interpreted as a far more complex script. First readings of the poems I Chop Some Parsley While Listening To Art Blakey's Version Of Three Blind

This poem takes a simple subject and adds a very interesting perspective to the way we look at it. Even the name is unusual “Introduction to Poetry” it sounds like a chapter in one of our literary books. We get this classroom feeling from the title all the way to the last stanza it sounds like a teacher speaking to another teacher, telling them how their poetry lesson went. This poem takes into account how linear people can be when it comes to poetry usually they don’t care for the detail they just want the meaning of the poem and be done with it. But poetry is meant to be experienced and along the way we may find a meaning to the poet’s words.

What I believe Billy Collins in his poem “Introduction to Poetry” is how he believes poetry should be read. It teaches the reader how to go into a poem, in the form of a poem. What really stood out to me is how there is a lot of excellent use of literary devices to help create imagery for the reader to help grasp Collins’ message. On line 3, Collins uses a simile: “like a color slide” saying that the reader must look through the color slide (the poem) in order to focus in and search for the picture (the message). After this, Collins provides three metaphors to illustrate his message. In one of these three metaphors, he says “I want them to waterski across the surface of the poem waving at the author’s name on the shore.” Like the other two

For as long as it can be remembered people have used multiple forms of literature in order to gain knowledge, entertain, and even express a certain idea. Poetry is in fact one of those forms of literature, and before people began to write it, it was known to be told verbally by many. A person would tell a tale and those who listened would memorize it, what eventually caused poetry to spread around. Still to this day, many come to fall in love with the magic poetry possesses. It is the writer’s decision to either have a specific rhythm to it or just have a simple list of words. This essay argues that poetry is a creative way of expressing one's emotions and that it should be, not only preserved, but celebrated, even by those who have not considered themselves poetry fans in the past.

“Introduction to Poetry” by Billy Collins takes a whimsical approach to discuss the act of reading and understanding poetry. This poem serves as an outlet for Collins to express the ways he wishes his students would read poetry, as well as voice his frustration for his student’s narrow view of poetry. The descriptive method Collins takes suggests that to pursue an interest in poetry can be enjoyable but involves a treacherous journey to find the true meaning. Still, not all students are interested in undertaking the trek towards knowledge and will make efforts to take a shortcut. Collins use of similes and metaphors and imagery throughout the poem brings readers along on a journey to experience the same feelings as he does.

Poetry in some way, shape or form, gives realistic ideas to even objects that reflect upon a part of life by using symbolism and personification.

To begin, in the poem “Introduction to Poetry” by Billy Collins he wants his readers to appreciate each poem as a piece of art. He wants his readers to look at the poem and get absorbed into the emotion of the poem instead of only wondering what the poem means. He uses personification in this quote “tie the poem to a chair with rope/ and torture a confession out of it” to express what we do to poems (356). We the readers should instead pay attention to the rhyme and style of the word. We should stop worrying about the meaning of the poem. This is similar to another author style in “Poem” by William Carlos Williams he uses a cat to movements in the “jamcloset” to show his readers that we should be like the cat. The cat takes its time to get around the “jamcloset” which is what the readers should do with poetry we must take our time to look at it and appreciate each word, line and stanza.

“Introduction to Poetry” and “Traveling Through the Dark,” are poems written by Billy Collins and William Stafford. The poem’s, “Introduction to Poetry”, main conflict is a teacher who tries to get his students to read and appreciate a poem, but what all the students only care about is figuring out what it means. The conflict is highlighted through the many uses of metaphors to help us understand how he wants the students to look and decipher a poem and how they only focus on finding the meaning instead of taking their time to listen and see the art of poetry. William Stafford’s poem, “Traveling Through the Dark,” describes a driver’s dilemma of deciding whether to throw a dead pregnant deer into the river, or leave it laying on the road where it can cause an accident. In both poems, the use of literary devices such as metaphors, personification, imagery, and diction are effective in making and building up the conflict and reaching the resolution.

Poetry has a role in society, not only to serve as part of the aesthetics or of the arts. It also gives us a view of what the society is in the context of when it was written and what the author is trying to express through words. The words as a tool in poetry may seem ordinary when used in ordinary circumstance. Yet, these words can hold more emotion and thought, however brief it was presented.

In today’s modern view, poetry has become more than just paragraphs that rhyme at the end of each sentence. If the reader has an open mind and the ability to read in between the lines, they discover more than they have bargained for. Some poems might have stories of suffering or abuse, while others contain happy times and great joy. Regardless of what the poems contains, all poems display an expression. That very moment when the writer begins his mental journey with that pen and paper is where all feelings are let out. As poetry is continues to be written, the reader begins to see patterns within each poem. On the other hand, poems have nothing at all in common with one another. A good example of this is in two poems by a famous writer by

The poem Introduction to Poetry is one of Collins most famous works of literature. The poem begins with Collins using similes such as “I ask them to take a poem and hold it up to the light like a

Billy Collins uses dark rooms, oceans, hives, color slides and mouse mazes to describe his poem “Introduction to Poetry”, but also a way to analyze poetry in general. Growing up, students are advised by teachers how to analyze poetry. The speaker of Introduction to Poetry, Billy Collins, attempts to guide the readers by teaching them a unique and appropriate way to analyze poetry. The use of personification and imagery, by the author, gives the readers a new perspective to interpret and find the significance in poetry. In this particular poem, the speaker does not want the reader to listen to the teachers of the reader’s past, “tie the poem to a chair with rope and torture a

Often at times there are many voices in one poem. These voices represent the different views that come from the same material that are portrayed by the buzz that the bee elicit in the hive. The proposal that Collins is trying to exude is that there is never one way to read a poem. The type of approach will vary with reader and who they are, but by having a radical approach it will help to enhance our understanding of what the poem means. Collins wants the reader to feel free when analyzing a poem: “I want them to waterski across the surface of the poem waving at the author’s name on the shore.” As a teacher you try to pummel depth into your students’ minds and push them into the direction of understanding. The speaker declares that the grapple to illuminating meaning and the amount of time where the reader does not understand adds to the worth of the poem. The parallel to the surface of water, where you have not attained the depth even though you know it’s there is important to how much it takes to find the true meaning of a poem. While reading this poem it have the outlook on how poetry places more of aln emphasis on us to be able to pick apart the undisclosed meaning and essentially to be able to pull apart the poem without a fixed structure. By doing it this way it is able to help the audience to build upon skills to help interpret and understand, which substantially is important throughout any source of literature. We

Throughout the poem, a number of literary devices are used. For example: “or press an ear against its hive”. Using this metaphor, Billy Collins is comparing the body of a poem to the hive of a bee. The hive of a bee appears to be something dangerous and unknown, just like a new poem, never before seen, with which one is unfamiliar. Using this metaphor, Billy Collins is