The title of this poem is unusual in that it is much longer than the average length of a title in poetry. The title also isn’t stylised in any way (though it could be argued that that deliberate decision is stylising the title) and doesn’t contain any form of punctuation. It also not only sets the scene (“To the doctor who treated the raped baby”) but also elaborated on the nature of its subject (“… and who felt such despair”) . Titles are the first thing that the reader sees, as such it is important for a title to tell the reader what to expect from the poem. In this regard the title of the poem is an extremely effective as it sets the tone for the entire poem, which I think, is strangely formal in the way it addresses the subject. Intriguing…
“Introduction to Poetry,” a poem written by Billy Collins, exemplifies the actual purpose for reading poetry. Collins strictly makes it clear to the reader that poems not always contain a deeper meaning, but rather the reader should take pleasure in reading the poem. The speaker, a poet, a teacher, and someone, who enjoys reading poetry, is talking directly to another teacher about how students should find pleasure in reading poetry, rather than stressing about analyzing the poem and finding the deeper meaning. The speaker also indirectly informs the reader that sometimes poetry should be read for pleasure and enjoyment. As a reader, we can very easily assimilate that the purpose of this poem is not that all poems require us to search and search…
The chance to go back and hang my arms from a tree, sit in an elementary class, deciding whether or not to sign up for the talent show, or audition for the high school play. That compared to writing a sixty-page thesis, watching my best friend’s casket being lowered into the ground, or diagnosed with stage four cancer followed with Major Depression. The two compare quite drastically, as it is looked upon that our younger years, full of pureness and perfect simplicity, are sought upon to be relived. Though the future has many blessings and beauties, it also holds the knowledge of good and evil, the fall of man displayed for all to see.…
The poem “Acquainted with the Night” was written by Robert Frost and was published in the collection, The West Running Brook. A common interpretation of the poem is that the author has experienced depression. Frost himself was said to have experienced depression, and mental illness is unfortunately prevalent throughout his family. He had to commit his sister to a mental hospital and his own son committed suicide. Using the “night” as a metaphor the reader can experience what the world around them feels like when inside of the darkness of depression. It speaks of isolation and loneliness. The narrator feels this loneliness even though he is surrounded by life in a city.…
The Poem “Introduction to Poetry” is by Billy Collins, an English poet, and it is about how teachers often force students to over-analyze poetry and to try decipher every possible meaning portrayed throughout the poem rather than allowing the students to form their own interpretation of the poem based on their own experiences.…
'Half Past Two' is a poem in which Fanthorpe describes how a young child is given a detention for an unspecified misdemeanor and is forgotten by his teacher. Fanthorpe draws on her experience as a teacher to describe the scene as seen through the child's eyes. The Title of the poem tells me a lot of information even before I read the poem. The information it puts across is that: A boy is told to stay behind until 'Half Past Two' but this has no-meaning to him because he has no concept of 'time'. The boy can’t tell the time but yet he divides the day up into familiar, recognizable units, as in 'schooltime', 'lunchtime', 'hometime'.…
The speaker asks the readers to hold the poem against the light as if it were a color slide. Here he is asking them to look at it closely and listen to what the poem has to say. When the author says to “…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,” it is a symbol for having the options of just reading the poem or get “inside” the author’s mind. He then goes on to say how oblivious they are by anticipating an obvious answer. By “torturing” the poem, they demand a straightforward response or meaning.…
Throughout the poem, there is heavy use of metaphor for the word “poem”. In the first stanza “poem” is compared to “a color slide”, this creates a strong imagery that readers have to look deeper and closer in order to look at the slide clearly. This shows us that when look at a slide or a poem, the meaning can only be revealed through multiple readings, time, with careful interpretation. In the second stanza “poem” is compared to “a hive”, it might be difficult to fully understand a poem, but one can succeed apart from the difficulties. There are many things that stop you from understanding a poem just like it might be hard for you to get close to a hive. In the third and fourth stanza, Collins compares “poem” to “a maze” and “a [dark] room in a house”, it reveals the feelings of being lost and uncertain. This stuck out the most because, as human beings, we are afraid of insecurity and when we are facing unfamiliarity. I have experienced this when I come to a turning point in a poem where I think I have the answer and I know the way out but the next stanza leads me to nothing more than a dead end. Eventually, even after a reader experiences all this, there will be a way out. At this point readers will find excitement and inspiration in interpreting poetry. This is portrayed in the fifth stanza, where “poem” is compared to “a lake” and readers are waterskiing and having fun with the poem.…
In the poem, “Introduction to Poetry,” Billy Collins presents an issue that is prominent in…
I will explain the William Carlos Williams poems in my essay. I am going to analyze his some poems ‘’Spring And All’’, ‘’The Red Wheelbarrow’’, ‘’This Is Just To Say’’, ‘’Landscape With The Fall Of Icarus’’ and ‘’To Elsie. I will start with short entrance of imagism and Williams’ style.…
In the poem ‘Introduction to Poetry’ the poet shows me the important idea that poetry is about having fun. Poems are made to have fun for everybody not just cleverest people. It’s for people who like having…
In the poems Introduction to Poetry and Marginalia, Billy Collins leads the reader through his perspective conveying different tones as an author as he connects with them on a more personal level. Although…
Work without hope was written by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. The poem is mainly about how spring is starting up and all the animals are moving around and the speaker seems to still be stuck in his depression. The first half of the stanza includes a personification…
1. The poem “The Street”, by Octavio Paz describes an incident in which the narrator is walking down a street and feels as if someone is following only to discover that it is “nobody”.…
“In a poem the words should be as pleasing to the ear as the meaning is to the mind.” -- Marianne Moore…