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Imagery And Symbols In The Poetry Of Billy Collins

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As the modern world becomes more technologically advanced, people have forgotten to focus on the simple aspects of life. Social media has changed the way people spend their down time, and they have neglected to recognize the seemingly mundane but rather imperative aspects of life. Billy Collins is an established, American poet who is known for his attention to the ordinary. While his poems are popular due to their witty and humorous nature, Collins uses his poems to cause his readers to have a deeper understanding of the everyday. American writer John Taylor stated,“Rarely has anyone written poems that appear so transparent on the surface yet become so ambiguous, thought-provoking, or simply wise once the reader has peered into the depths” …show more content…

It invites the reader to feel a sense of inspiration as the speaker discusses the beginning of journeys, literary works, and life itself. Line 13-14 states, “Here the climbers are studying a map/or pulling on their long woolen socks'' (Collins). The climbers are preparing for an expedition which allows the reader to feel a similar sense of ambition as the climbers. They are about to begin a climb even though they do not know how it will end. It can be inferred that Collins wrote this line to encourage his readers to take a leap of faith. A person can never know what the future holds, so they must take a chance and experience new situations and challenges. Additionally, Collins uses images to symbolize different beginnings. “Think of an egg, the letter A, (Collins). These two examples are immensely basic examples of beginning, and Collins strategically incorporates them to increase the understanding of the reader; these two symbols allow the reader to form a deeper understanding of the other various imagery throughout the first …show more content…

This stanza begins to explore the complexities of life. Lines 28-29 state, “Things have had time to get complicated,/messy, really. Nothing is simple anymore”(Collins). As people progress through life, they are faced with obstacles and challenges that they must choose to overcome. The middle of life is where everything becomes difficult. In addition to life consisting of challenges, it also presents everyone with disappointment. The disappointment people experience can be debilitating and will deter people from their goals. Collins brings light to this concept in lines 33-34 which read, “Disappointment unshoulders his knapsack/here and pitches his ragged tent” (Collins). This personification of disappointment shows how during the middle of a person’s life, the feeling of disappointment or the feeling of regret begins to take root. Perhaps Collins intended for this stanza to represent a mid-life

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