IIntroduction to Poetry

ByBilly Collins

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William James Collins, Billy, is an American poet, appointed as Poet Laureate of the United States from 2001 to 2003. He is a Distinguished Professor at Lehman College of the City University of New York and is the Senior Distinguished Fellow of the Winter Park Institute, Florida. Collins was recognized as a Literary Lion of the New York Public Library (1992) and selected as the New York State Poet for 2004-2006.

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Collins was born in New York City to William and Katherine Collins. Katherine Collins was a nurse who stopped working to raise the couple's only child. Mrs. Collins had the ability to recite verses on almost any subject, which she often did, and cultivated in her young son the love of words, both written and spoken.

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A poet laureate is a poet officially appointed by a government, or conferring agency, who is often expected to compose poems for special events and occasions. The term dates back to the appointment of Bernard André by King Henry VII of England.

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Simile:A figure of speech that makes a comparison between two unlike things using the word “like” or “as”.

Review

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Example of Similes in PoetryFlintAn emerald is as green as grass,A ruby red as blood;A sapphire shines as blue as heaven;A flint lies in the mud.A diamond is a brilliant stone,To catch the world's desire;An opal holds a fiery spark;But a flint holds a fire.Christina Rossetti 1830-1894

IMetaphor:A comparison of two unlike things, without using the words “like” or “as” in the comparison.

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Example of Metaphors In Poetry

Metaphors are very common in everyday language. But poets also like to use metaphors. In the following famous verse (from The Highwayman by Alfred Noyes), can you spot three metaphors in the first three lines?

The wind was a torrent of darkness among the gusty trees,The moon was a ghostly galleon tossed upon cloudy seas,The road was a ribbon of moonlight over the purple moor,And the highwayman came riding--Riding--riding--The highwayman came riding, up to the old inn-door.

IExtended Metaphor:

A figure of speech that compares two unlike things at some length and in several ways. It does not contain the word like or as .

IExample of ExtendedMetaphors In Poetry

"The winds were ocean waves, thrashing against the trees limbs. The gales remained thereafter, only ceasing when the sun went down. Their waves clashed brilliantly with the water beneath, bringing foam and dying leaves to the shore."

IBilly Collins writes

what “they” want to do to poetry in his poem,

“Introduction to Poetry.”

He feels that reading poetry is to experience it---hear it, see it, and feel it. Reading poetry should be less about constructing meaning. That is not to say that it should not be analyzed or discussed, but that the experience of reading it should be more important than anything else.

From Elite Skills Classics

IRead the poem, “Introduction to Poetry,”

and visualize what the poet, Billy Collins is

describing.

II ask them to take a poemAnd hold it up to the light like a color slide

Or press an ear against its hive.

II say drop a mouse into a poemand watch him probe his way out.or walk inside the poem’s roomand feel the walls for a light switch.

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I want them to waterskiacross the surface of a poemwaving at the author’s name on the shore.

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They begin beating it with a hoseto find out what it really means.

But all they want to dois tie the poem to a chair with ropeand torture a confession out of it.

IHow do the words chosen by Billy Collins appeal to the senses?

What image described by Collins changed the way you thought about poetry?

Tell about the extended metaphor in the last two stanzas of “Introduction to Poetry.”