Poem Analysis: Introduction To Poetry By Billy Collins
Genesis Trejo
02/25/2015
Period 3Nebe In the poem, “Introduction to Poetry,” Billy Collins presents an issue that is prominent in the world of literature. He is the speaker in the poem and addresses the reader as a student. His scholastic tone is first exposed in the title. The title suggests that Collins does not go too in depth of how to analyze poetry as it is an only an “introduction.” Collins wants the reader to get an idea of what they should do to have a more complete and coherent interpretation of a poem. His poem is also formatted in almost a stepbystep guideline, divided into distinct stanzas, to add to the already prominent scholarly tone of the poem.
Each stanza has a particular objective for the reader. Through imagery and appeal to the …show more content…
It is obvious to note that Collins is an advocate for creative approaches towards poetry and wants a reader to avoid a dry analysis approach of poetry. The first stanza asks the reader to approach the poem visually. Collins suggests the reader should try to see all the “color[s]” of a poem. He asks them to “hold it up to the light” as if the poem was a new specimen. The second stanza asks the reader to explore the poem audibly. The speaker asks us them to do an auditory exploration of the poem. Collins depicts that a poem has a “hive” which implies poems are rich in sound like the buzzing of bees.
The third stanza attempts to illustrate a poem’s complex structure by comparing “prob[ing]” a poem to the allusion of a lab mouse making its “way out” of a labyrinth in a science experiment.
Reading and analyzing a complex poem is very doable, yet one has to have patience and follow the right path through the poem. Also, Collin uses the vivid scenario of a person in a dark room
“feel[ing] the walls for a light switch.” This is the most apt example of Collins’ message of
02/25/2015
Period 3Nebe In the poem, “Introduction to Poetry,” Billy Collins presents an issue that is prominent in the world of literature. He is the speaker in the poem and addresses the reader as a student. His scholastic tone is first exposed in the title. The title suggests that Collins does not go too in depth of how to analyze poetry as it is an only an “introduction.” Collins wants the reader to get an idea of what they should do to have a more complete and coherent interpretation of a poem. His poem is also formatted in almost a stepbystep guideline, divided into distinct stanzas, to add to the already prominent scholarly tone of the poem.
Each stanza has a particular objective for the reader. Through imagery and appeal to the …show more content…
It is obvious to note that Collins is an advocate for creative approaches towards poetry and wants a reader to avoid a dry analysis approach of poetry. The first stanza asks the reader to approach the poem visually. Collins suggests the reader should try to see all the “color[s]” of a poem. He asks them to “hold it up to the light” as if the poem was a new specimen. The second stanza asks the reader to explore the poem audibly. The speaker asks us them to do an auditory exploration of the poem. Collins depicts that a poem has a “hive” which implies poems are rich in sound like the buzzing of bees.
The third stanza attempts to illustrate a poem’s complex structure by comparing “prob[ing]” a poem to the allusion of a lab mouse making its “way out” of a labyrinth in a science experiment.
Reading and analyzing a complex poem is very doable, yet one has to have patience and follow the right path through the poem. Also, Collin uses the vivid scenario of a person in a dark room
“feel[ing] the walls for a light switch.” This is the most apt example of Collins’ message of