Introduction to Poetry is a free form poem, which sounds banal, but is very meaningful all throughout the text. The author Billy Collins uses many different types of figurative language, from colorful imagery to tricky metaphors.   This poem is written in stanza form with no regular rhyming scheme. Author Billy Collins informs his readers to read poetry for enjoyment instead of dissecting it, and trying to figure out a deeper meaning. The teacher wants the students to really listen to the sounds in the poem, to look at it, to truly experience it for what it is. And that's a piece of art. But the students just want to figure out what the darn thing is about, and they are willing to use any means necessary to get at the truth. Overall, the amount of diverse metaphors used by the author help provide vivid details from sounds to light expressed in the text.

While reading through the poem, the reader can infer a sense that Collins wants them to really take in and understand truly what the meaning behind the text is.  "I want them to waterski across the surface of the poem, and waving at the authors name"(9), this line conveys a brilliant image of the reader expressing a feeling that no one usually experiences when reading some texts.  However, the author also displays his text with many metaphors.  Varying in meanings Collins starts off clear and precise, with great visuals expressing poetry. Once the reader reaches the last part of the poem, it drastically changes in tone and the whole implication behind the poem.  It appears that the poem has one obvious message behind the text, but with so many vivid metaphors it's hard to come to one concrete conclusion. This puts the reader in a tough place; trying to figure out the main significance that Collins wants to disclose. The author switches between a peaceful tone here "or walk inside the poem's room, and feel the walls for a light switch"(7), to a total opposite feeling of darkness here "But all they want to do is tie the poem to a chair with rope and torture a confession out of it"(12).  It adds a mocking, yet humorous tone to the whole poem, jeering at the incorrect attitudes towards poetry.

When I completely read the text thoroughly once or twice, I came to a conclusion that Collin's poem is more or less like a guideline to poetry. Not like a step-by-step booklet, but a poem that shows how its meanings are passionate, colorful, and can be interpreted in many different ways. Although some may feel that poems loose their meaning when one pries deeper, a proper relationship with poetry requires depth.

Many readers just want to find the main meaning straight out of the text, and give no attention to the true detail behind the work. Collins wants the reader to enjoy the ambience of the writing and look past the whole idea of getting one thing out of the text.  Poems are not written solely for the readers to rip it to shreds trying to find some sort of interpretation regarding the text. Poetry is a scenic form of writing, that lets the author state anything they really want. They can portray a sunny weekend on the west coast; while at the same time include a hidden meaning far more important than the sandy beach and waves.

The way Billy Collins goes about creating this piece of poetry is astonishing and is very unique. The metaphors really help paint a picture describing the countless ways someone could enjoy poetry.  The only thing that is odd about Collins work, regarding Introduction to Poetry, is that he contradicts the poem into two parts. The start of the piece states how Billy Collins ("I"), wants the reader to do with poems they read. The author's metaphors are flamboyant and help add to what poetry is really about, but then all of a sudden the text flips tones. Collins starts to relate how the readers ("They") only want to get to the bottom of the poem, giving no time to the essence that is behind the text. Upon initial reading, the meaning of this poem is unexplainable. What does Collins mean by his poem?   There are many small messages in the poem, many of which Collins tells the reader what the poem means to the mind. In others he tells the reader how to treat the poem and how to find its message. He expresses that poems should not have their meaning forcefully tugged from them, but freely and calmly find it, and still be attached to the surface.   All in all, Collins enlightens his readers with an important message, that is, we have to get inside the poem to experience, rather than just figuring out the meaning through skimming it.  Don't judge a book by its cover. We cannot judge a person by his appearance and stereotype him due to our own biases.

Collins presents a peculiar speaker who changes tone throughout this poem reflecting his frustrations in how readers analyze poetry. As the poem progresses the reader senses a change in the author's tone, these changes can be detected through the speaker's dialogue. It is as if the poet was a scientist conducting a science experiment putting a little cheese at the end for the reader to discover the meaning. Collins is challenging the student or reader to find the meandering way through the poem. Another example of imagery is when he states that he wants them to take a poem and "hold it up to the light like a color slide."(2). This physically makes the reader do this motion in the mind. The implied message of this line is that without shining a little light on a poem, its real meaning doesn't shine through. With poetry, it's the same way. At first, poems can be mystifying, vague, and cryptic, but after additional review, they become more sensible.   

      
      
      

      


