
Understanding the meaning of poetry can be tricky and frustrating. Poetry is often filled with many nuances that reveal the meaning. These nuances are given through elements such as figurative language and language choice. In order to understand the ideas brought forth by poetry, one must take careful time to analyze each element. Together, these elements should form a cohesive work. It is the responsibility of the poet to provide tools (elements) for the reader. It is the responsibility of the reader to use these tools to build an understanding of the poem. A common plight among readers is the lack of patience in building an understanding. The reader demands an answer out of the poem, rather than listening to what it has to say. The poet wants the reader to take outside elements into consideration, like historical context and past experience. The reader must learn to approach the poem with patience. One work that expresses these ideas is "Introduction to Poetry" by Billy Collins. "Introduction to Poetry" uses an array of metaphors to encourage the reader to observe rather than decipher a poem. 

The first example of persuading language lies in the first stanza.  Immediately there is a request to the reader in "I ask them to take a poem / " (1). The speaker requires the reader to do something to the poem. The use of the word "ask" indicates a request rather than a demand to accomplish a task. The next line specifies the task with "and hold it up to the light / " (2). The reader must elevate the poem to light, perhaps from a darker setting to a brighter setting. Holding to a light suggests illumination in order to gain a better image of the poem. A comparison is made with "like a color slide / " (3). The poem is now connected to a color slide through the use of a simile. A color slide is defined as "a color transparency, mounted usually between cardboard or plasticmasks or glass plates, for projection onto a screen" (Dictionary.com). The keyword in this definition is "transparency". The speaker is asking to treat the poem as a transparent color slide in order to see through the poem.  The reader must also see beyond the poem, noticing new perspectives. 

Another advising metaphor begins the second stanza with "or press an ear against its hive.  / " (4).  The speaker offers yet another proposition with "or". The reader is now asked to make a physical connection to the poem through "press an ear against its hive.  / ". The words "press" and "against" signal the reader to make personal contact with the poem.  The word "hive. / " commonly refers to a bee hive, which produces a lot of sound. The literal sense of listening to the sound of a hive as well as the figurative sense of listening to the natural sound of the poem makes a connection between the physical sense of hearing and "listening" to a poem to understand the meaning. With line 4, a poem is compared to a hive, full of life and activity. The closing of the second stanza adds another metaphor to the poem. The speaker offers an additional proposal by "I say drop a mouse into a poem / and watch him probe his way out," (5-6). Again, the speaker does not demand anything of the reader. The choice of "I say" suggests an advisement as opposed to a rigid demand. The selection of "drop" signifies a sudden removal from a comfort zone, or confiscation from a natural habitat. Once the mouse is dropped "into the poem", the reader is asked to "watch him probe his way out," (6). The reader should observe, "watch", the mouse as he navigates throughout the poem trying to find an exit. In this sense, a poem is a maze or a complicated passageway. The reader is the "mouse" and the only way to find the meaning ("way out") is to "probe", or analyze every possible path. The exit may not be immediate or seem obvious but with careful consideration of different options, a solution will be found.

An additional suggestive identification is made in the third stanza. The speaker continues to feed options through "or walk inside the poem's room / and feel for a light switch." (7-8). The speaker transitions into another option with "or".  The poem is now stated as a room. Yet another connection is made with the physical senses. In line 8, the reader must feel the "walls" of the poem "for a light switch". Here, the sense of touch is associated with finding a "light switch", or the meaning of the poem. This is another reference to light and illumination.  In other words, the reader must go into a new territory blind, and use careful examination to find the illuminating source. 

The fourth stanza displays another instructional metaphor. The speaker makes another appeal to the reader by stating "I want them to waterski / across the surface of a poem / " (9-10). The poem is now as a body of water. The reader must skim the "surface" of the poem, and gain a general feel for the work. There is yet one more component to this request through "waving at the author's name on the shore. / " (10). As the reader skims along the poem they must acknowledge the "name" of the author who sits on the shore watching. Acknowledging the name also acknowledges the experiences of the writer and what they have drawn from those experiences to create the poem.  Recognizing the poet as a complex individual rather than a meaningless name behind the poem will enhance the ability of the reader to make connections and draw conclusions about potential meanings. 

The final two stanzas address the actual habits of the reader by stating "But all they want to do / is tie the poem to a chair with rope / and torture a confession out of it. / " (11-13) . There is a shift in tone from calm guidance to accusatory frustration trough the description of the disturbing scene of beating a poem. The speaker starts this thought with "But", presenting a discrepancy between what the readers should do, as specified in the first 4 stanzas, as opposed to what the reader actually does when encountering a poem. The speaker continues with "all they want to do / ", suggesting that the reader has tested no other option. The reader has limited their intentions to one choice, and that "is tie the poem to a chair with rope / and torture a confession out of it. / " (13-14).  The act of tying implies bondage, lack of freedom. The reader wants to restrain the poem and interrogate it by "torture a confession out of it. / ". A sense of violence is associated with "torture", and states the poem as an enemy. The final two lines continue with the image of struggling with the poem through "They begin beating it with a hose / to find out what it really means." Such a commonplace object like a hose adds a savage quality to the average reader, and further comments on the degradation of poetry. The poem is now a wild animal, or a horrible creature invading the safe space of the reader. 

Although a poem seems to aggravate a reader, Collins combines a unique assortment of metaphors to teach the reader how to properly examine a poem. The poem introduces a variety of guidelines to inform the reader on what they actually do when they read a piece of poetry. Collins emphasizes the importance of breaking down a piece of poetry, and using many different techniques to let the poem speak for itself instead of forcing a meaning for their own convenience. Collins uses this poem as an enlightening text to assist the reader in gaining a new outlook on reading poetry.

