ipl-logo

Summary Of Billy Collins Poem Comprehending

719 Words3 Pages

Categorizing poetry depends on language, syntax and the reader’s personal connection to the poem. By dividing these poems into three sections I am able to clearly see what I respect and disapprove of in poetry. In Billy Collins’ Poem, “Watercoloring” it can identify with anyone who has had a hope but has failed. This poem is an understandable but symbolic piece for every type of achiever, not just a painter. I think this a very relatable piece because of it’s description of a trying process. In the first stanza the narrator is watercoloring a picture of a shifting sky, “a shift of light toward the higher clouds,/ so I seized my brush” (1). By using the word “seized” it stresses the need to act fast and the tone is clear that something needs to happen. Comprehending poetry is all about having the life experiences to match the …show more content…

The narrator first talks about a young girl dressed in boys clothing then goes on to say, “rescue from annoy/ Hearts that by wiser talk are unbeguiled” (10). The narrator hastily shifts ideas in each stanza, making it extremely challenging to decipher the significance of the narrator’s account. Being someone that is new to reading poetry this makes it difficult for me to appreciate the symbolism behind the story. The previous stanzas describe a person reminiscing about sweet memories of the past contradict this statement, “Away, fond thoughts, and vex my soul no more!” (13). The change in tone with this sentence offsets the entirety of the poem. The flow of happy recollections is gone and soiled with evil thoughts. When I read poetry I want to connect with the narrator and have their use of imagery transport me into their exact situation. Unfortunately, this poem was too specific and remote for me to have an attraction to it. This poem was overly complex and

Show More
Related
321 Words | 2 Pages

In the poem Rain, Billy Collins’ establishes censorship relating to surveillance, creating societal issues, such as the deprivation of humanity extending to the destruction of the mind. The poet continues to construct negative connotations to the title, Rain, indicating the controlling metaphor as censorship’s effect spiraling into the negative impacts the populace faces discussed throughout the poem. Personification intends to reach the boundaries of nonliving objects into humanistic actions, for instance, “these birds have done nothing, a few protested. That is precisely the problem. The loudspeakers answered” (7-8).

Read More
835 Words | 4 Pages

I fabricated this poem of choppy verses and straightforward ideas yet maintaining depth throughout, something the author has mastered. For example, I include rather simple words like “sticky, muddy, webbed,”

Read More
821 Words | 4 Pages

Billy Collins’ “Introduction to Poetry” is about trying to help people understand poetry. Most people use poetry to relate to a certain life situation and just see the poem at face value. Very rarely do people actually dissect a poem, or see a poem for what it actually is. In the first stanza, “poem” is associated with “a color slide”, it creates a solid imagery that readers have to squint their eyes in order to look at the slide clearly under the light or by using the projector. In the second stanza, “poem” is compared to “a hive”, it might be difficult to fully understand a poem, but one can prosper despite the complications, similar to risking one’s safety to have physical contact with bee hives.

Read More
329 Words | 2 Pages

The structure of the poem is important to note because all three of the stanzas contain a pattern that recurs throughout the entirety of the poem. The first pattern that can be seen within the poem is each of the stanzas consist of quatrains, meaning that every stanza has four lines. Another important pattern to note within each stanza is that the first and the third lines, and the second and the fourth lines could be considered half rhymes. In the second stanza for example: the first line ends with “instrument” and the third line ends with “document”. Though the words do not completely rhyme, they do look similar and sound similar.

Read More
599 Words | 3 Pages

The poem has a clear rhyme scheme of abbacddceffeghhgijjikllk. This helps the poet achieve the desired effect by reinforcing the idea of remembrance. The entire poem is the speaker reflecting on their past childhood. The pattern of the rhyme scheme being repeated over and over again helps to reinforce repetition. Ultimately, the rhyme scheme reinforces the speaker coming to a resolution of forgiving

Read More
839 Words | 4 Pages

Poetry is not just any literature, in fact, poetry is a whole other world, a world that connects people in whole new level. Poetry’s art, it’s passion, it’s power. Australian poetry seeks to tell stories and truths, marked by diversity, emotion, and interest in landscape, with the effect of visual power. These elements that make up such patriotic poems can be seen through

Read More
728 Words | 3 Pages

Throughout the poem there are many truths and meanings that the poet explains. The main meaning of the poem is the nature of relationships and how aging marriages bring separateness to couples, as the speaker describes in the text how her elderly parents have become detached and are not “one flesh” anymore. Another truth that comes from this poem is effect of time on the human life and how old age effects people and their family. Is the poet using any poetic devices? Give examples and explain how they contribute to the poem as a

Read More
805 Words | 4 Pages

William “Billy” Collins is named “one of the most popular poets in America” in the New York Times. He is known for his humorous poems that have a lot of observation on the every day life. Collins says that his poetry is “suburban, domestic, middle class, and its sort of unashamedly that.” He was not very famous when he was younger, but now, his work is considered some of the best poetry in history (“Billy Collins”). Collins recognized his love for poetry as a young child, pursued his interests in becoming a poet, and was eventually recognized for his work.

Read More
1074 Words | 5 Pages

The speaker's strong word choice and use of metaphors help the reader truly understand how the poet feels in regards to the subject of unwanted nostalgia and yearning for the past. The poem's first line opens up with “longing for my days of naive youth will forever be a curse”. Here, the speaker is expressing how they are constantly looking back at how things used to be when they were just an innocent child who had no idea what life had in store for them in the future. They desire this feeling so constantly that they compare it to a curse that they are stuck with. The poem then references previous lines with “Climbing through the monkey bars of life faster than me, because now I sit in that circle silent as can be.

Read More
629 Words | 3 Pages

In “The Trouble with Poetry”, and “Introduction to Poetry” Billy Collins focuses on the issue of forced inspiration, and the lack of appreciation readers, and aspiring poets have for the feel of poetry. In “Introduction to Poetry”, Collins mentions that some poetry enthusiasts try too hard to find the meaning of a poem; to try and decipher it like some ancient hieroglyphics, that they forget that poetry is not an essay and does not necessarily have to have a distinct message. In stanza’s seven and eight, the speaker states that poetry should be felt, and that what one poem means to a group of people could have a completely different effect on another group. In stanza eight “Feel the walls” is the speaker’s ways of saying that one should feel a poem and let the poem speak to them, instead of searching for what they believe to be its true meaning.

Read More
957 Words | 4 Pages

From here, a uniform mood and tone is set throughout the poem and can be seen heavily in not only the choice of words but, also the plot and structure of the poem. The theme of sympathy is really conveyed through Erdrich’s melancholic tone. Throughout the poem, we see a very gloomy and melancholic tone set by the events happening. “Until I could no longer bear / the thought of how I was” (51-52), these two lines portray her battle after she is rescued and how instead of her relief she is feeling a longing to be back with her captors. Lines similar to these two lead embody why the tone is so gloomy and sad especially when readers see the battle she is experiencing because she is safe now, away from her captors but, she doesn 't really want to be.

Read More
574 Words | 3 Pages

Young’s poem portrays life’s hardships and the struggle between a person and the world. Young encourages his readers to venture out of their comfort zone and to live life to its fullest potential, which is the theme. Al Young develops and supports his argument by using literary devices. Including symbolism, hyperbole, and metaphors.

Read More
948 Words | 4 Pages

Furthermore, the superficial simplicity of Hughes’ poems is not meant to deceive, but to encourage readers to engage in poetry from different perspectives because there is more to the poem than meets the eye. Additional questions remain, however. Does Hughes’ experimentation with form threaten to mischaracterize or further objectify the subjects of his poetry? Does Hughes ascribe too much value to these ordinary objects and places? Are there limitations to Hughes’ experimentation?

Read More
1519 Words | 7 Pages

Thoughts serve as a distraction, and they also bring about memories of the past. Some memories pleasant, others not as pleasant, the poem describes letting things go, and moving on from the past. As stated in lines two and three, “I paused and said, ‘I will turn back from

Read More
2859 Words | 12 Pages

This is also relevant as the poem is in "Songs of Innocence". This tone along with the deeper message of the poem make it seem cheerful yet very morbid at the same time. This contrast is due to the sad content placed against an upbeat rhyme scheme. This paradox makes the reader connect with the boys innocence and gives the reader a glimpse into the thoughts of the boy. It shows how the boy does not take these thoughts he is having too seriously and is just trying to make sense of the world around him.

Read More

More about Summary Of Billy Collins Poem Comprehending

Related Topics

Open Document