Billy+Collins

Austin McMillan Billy Collins was born in 1941 in New York City. He received his Bachelors degree from the College of the Holy Cross and his PhD from The University of California-Riverside. In 1975, Collins co-founded the Mid-Atlantic review with partner Mike Shannon. Collins's most popular publishing's are in a book he created called __Questions About Angels__. He was once named "The most popular poet in America" by Bruce Weber of the New York Times.

=**Forgetfulness**=

 1 The name of the author is the first to go

2 followed obediently by the title, the plot,

3 the heartbreaking conclusion, the entire novel

4 which suddenly becomes one you have never read,

5 never even heard of,

6 as if, one by one, the memories you used to harbor

7 decided to retire to the southern hemisphere of the brain,

8 to a little fishing village where there are no phones.

9 Long ago you kissed the names of the nine Muses goodbye

10 and watched the quadratic equation pack its bag,

11 and even now as you memorize the order of the planets,

12 something else is slipping away, a state flower perhaps,

13 the address of an uncle, the capital of Paraguay.

14 Whatever it is you are struggling to remember,

15 it is not poised on the tip of your tongue,

<span style="font-family: Roboto,sans-serif; font-size: 17px;">16 not even lurking in some obscure corner of your spleen.

<span style="font-family: Roboto,sans-serif; font-size: 17px;">17 It has floated away down a dark mythological river

<span style="font-family: Roboto,sans-serif; font-size: 17px;">18 whose name begins with an L as far as you can recall,

<span style="font-family: Roboto,sans-serif; font-size: 17px;">19 well on your own way to oblivion where you will join those

<span style="font-family: Roboto,sans-serif; font-size: 17px;">20 who have even forgotten how to swim and how to ride a bicycle.

<span style="font-family: Roboto,sans-serif; font-size: 17px;">21 No wonder you rise in the middle of the night

<span style="font-family: Roboto,sans-serif; font-size: 17px;">22 to look up the date of a famous battle in a book on war.

<span style="font-family: Roboto,sans-serif; font-size: 17px;">23 No wonder the moon in the window seems to have drifted

<span style="font-family: Roboto,sans-serif; font-size: 17px;">24 out of a love poem that you used to know by heart.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 1.417em;"> Billy Collins http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/forgetfulness/

Upon reading this poem, many probably think that this is a light and simple poem about people being forgetful, but to me this poem means much more. To me this poem represents the common happenings of a student from the past. Lines 1-5 is describing a new book. The use of tone shows us that the student is dreading reading this novel. We as students tend to focus more on the fact that we have to do work other than actually doing the work itself. I am a huge example of this. Lines 5-11 are describing the loss of knowledge that once consumed the minds of elementary schools students. It is as if the new knowledge is leaking and being taken over by more intensive facts. This symbolizes the reason as to why adults can't remember the small, but important facts of the fifth grade. As described in this poem, once the knowledge is lost, it does not return. You are no longer to pull lost facts they were once memories, out of nowhere. The last few lines display the lack of enthusiasm that was once there for learning. "No wonder you rise in the middle of the night, to look up the date of a famous battle," is a perfect example of what happens throughout life after school. Collins is extremely good about emotionally connecting people to his poems. The amount of relation that I feel for this poem is infinite.

I Ask You

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 17.3333px; vertical-align: baseline;">1 What scene would I want to be enveloped in <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 17.3333px; vertical-align: baseline;">2 more than this one, <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 17.3333px; vertical-align: baseline;">3 an ordinary night at the kitchen table, <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 17.3333px; vertical-align: baseline;">4 floral wallpaper pressing in, <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 17.3333px; vertical-align: baseline;">5 white cabinets full of glass, <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 17.3333px; vertical-align: baseline;">6 the telephone silent, <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 17.3333px; vertical-align: baseline;">7 a pen tilted back in my hand?

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 17.3333px; vertical-align: baseline;">8 It gives me time to think <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 17.3333px; vertical-align: baseline;">9 about all that is going on outside-- <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 17.3333px; vertical-align: baseline;">1 0leaves gathering in corners, <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 17.3333px; vertical-align: baseline;">11 lichen greening the high grey rocks, <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 17.3333px; vertical-align: baseline;">12 while over the dunes the world sails on, <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 17.3333px; vertical-align: baseline;">13 huge, ocean-going, history bubbling in its wake.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 17.3333px; vertical-align: baseline;">14 But beyond this table <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 17.3333px; vertical-align: baseline;">15 there is nothing that I need, <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 17.3333px; vertical-align: baseline;">16 not even a job that would allow me to row to work, <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 17.3333px; vertical-align: baseline;">17 or a coffee-colored Aston Martin DB4 <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 17.3333px; vertical-align: baseline;">18 with cracked green leather seats.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 17.3333px; vertical-align: baseline;">19 No, it's all here, <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 17.3333px; vertical-align: baseline;">20 the clear ovals of a glass of water, <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 17.3333px; vertical-align: baseline;">21 a small crate of oranges, a book on Stalin, <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 17.3333px; vertical-align: baseline;">22 not to mention the odd snarling fish <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 17.3333px; vertical-align: baseline;">23 in a frame on the wall, <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 17.3333px; vertical-align: baseline;">24 and the way these three candles-- <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 17.3333px; vertical-align: baseline;">25 each a different height-- <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 17.3333px; vertical-align: baseline;">26 are singing in perfect harmony.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 17.3333px; vertical-align: baseline;">27 So forgive me <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 17.3333px; vertical-align: baseline;">28 if I lower my head now and listen <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 17.3333px; vertical-align: baseline;">29 to the short bass candle as he takes a solo <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 17.3333px; vertical-align: baseline;">30 while my heart <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 17.3333px; vertical-align: baseline;">31 thrums under my shirt-- <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 17.3333px; vertical-align: baseline;">32 frog at the edge of a pond-- <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 17.3333px; vertical-align: baseline;">33 and my thoughts fly off to a province <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 17.3333px; vertical-align: baseline;">34 made of one enormous sky <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 17.3333px; vertical-align: baseline;">35 and about a million empty branches.

Billy Collins http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/i-ask-you/

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 17.3333px; vertical-align: baseline;">When I first read this poem I thought of one word: home. It seems to me that Billy Collins is saying that sometimes all you need is right there in front of you. We often look for materialistic things and people to that hole inside us, but only the true origin of where we began can satisfy that longing. Billy Collins is saying that he feels true comfort looking at the objects in his home and just writing, as he states in lines 1-7. It is clear to here his comforted tone in these lines by the fondness in his voice and the imagery that is painted by warm details. His tone throughout the entire poem is not aggressive, passionate, or restless. It is a tone of reflection and at peace. There is no rhyme scheme in this poem but it still flows well because of all of the details Collins lists of his home. I relate to this poem so well. I am such a busy person. I go from school, to soccer, to football, and to friends. I forget how much comfort I get from being silent and sitting at home with my family. I really don’t need much other than my home and my family.


 * <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 17.3333px; vertical-align: baseline;">Man In Space **

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #505050; display: block; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px;">1 All you have to do is listen to the way a man <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #505050; display: block; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px;">2 sometimes talks to his wife at a table of people <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #505050; display: block; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px;">3 and notice how intent he is on making his point <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #505050; display: block; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px;">4 even though her lower lip is beginning to quiver,

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #505050; display: block; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px;">5 and you will know why the women in science <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #505050; display: block; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px;">6 fiction movies who inhabit a planet of their own <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #505050; display: block; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px;">7 are not pictured making a salad or reading a magazine <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #505050; display: block; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px;">8 when the men from earth arrive in their rocket,

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #505050; display: block; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px;">9 why they are always standing in a semicircle <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #505050; display: block; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px;">10 with their arms folded, their bare legs set apart, <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #505050; display: block; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px;">11 their breasts protected by hard metal disks. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #505050; display: block; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px;"> <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #505050; display: block; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px;">Billy Collins <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #505050; display: block; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px;"> http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/man-in-space-2/ <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #505050; display: block; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px;"> <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #505050; display: block; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">This Billy Collins’ poem ends with the strong visual of warrior women standing together ready for a fight to the death with male intruders however this is only the figment of a science fiction movie. In lines 1 through 4 the author is demonstrating a man’s need to assert his dominance in a relationship even when it begins to hurt his wife’s feelings. This immediately hooked me into the poem because I did not know what Collins’ was going to say about this. It also made me reflect on the way I treat women and other people which is hopefully a lot better than embarrassing them in front of other people. The first few lines also provide a reason as to why science fiction women who live on their own planet are not doing stereotypical chores or activities like “making a salad or reading a magazine” because they do not have any one bringing them down and putting them in that place. The title of this work especially contributes to Collins' purpose because it puts men into an uncomfortable setting which draws attention to the science fiction aspect of this poem. Billy Collins writes about a variety of topics, and this poem is just a glimpse into his perspective on feminism although he uses a light and humorous tone.


 * Embrace**

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> <span style="font-family: Roboto,sans-serif; font-size: 17px;">1 You know the parlor trick.

<span style="font-family: Roboto,sans-serif; font-size: 17px;">2 wrap your arms around your own body

<span style="font-family: Roboto,sans-serif; font-size: 17px;">3 and from the back it looks like

<span style="font-family: Roboto,sans-serif; font-size: 17px;">4 someone is embracing you

<span style="font-family: Roboto,sans-serif; font-size: 17px;">5 her hands grasping your shirt

<span style="font-family: Roboto,sans-serif; font-size: 17px;">6 her fingernails teasing your neck

<span style="font-family: Roboto,sans-serif; font-size: 17px;">7 from the front it is another story

<span style="font-family: Roboto,sans-serif; font-size: 17px;">8 you never looked so alone

<span style="font-family: Roboto,sans-serif; font-size: 17px;">9 your crossed elbows and screwy grin

<span style="font-family: Roboto,sans-serif; font-size: 17px;">10 you could be waiting for a tailor

<span style="font-family: Roboto,sans-serif; font-size: 17px;">11 to fit you with a straight jacket

<span style="font-family: Roboto,sans-serif; font-size: 17px;">12 one that would hold you really tight.

<span style="font-family: Roboto,sans-serif; font-size: 17px;">Billy Collins http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/embrace-16/

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">As I was reading this poem it made me think about how people who are truly lonely will do anything that they can to make it seem as if they are not. They will surround themselves with as many people as they can and act as if the are loved by everyone, but deep down they still feel alone. Collins beautifully uses a silly parlor trick to convey something with a much deeper meaning. He uses great detail in lines 5-6 to explain what this trick looks like from the back or outside, and he also uses great detail in line 9 to describe what the same trick looks like from the front or inside. This poem has no rhyme scheme but it still flows well. When he compares this position to someone waiting for a straight jacket I think about the fact that these type of people can end up going crazy with loneliness, like someone in an asylum. Sometimes the person who seems the most popular is actually completely alone on the inside.