Historia
By Nikolaos Gysis (1892)
History is often defined as an umbrella term that relates to
past events as well as the memory, discovery, collection and interpretation of
information about these events. Billy Collins, who in John Updike’s words is said
to write poems that are “more serious than they seem”, explores
in his poetry how history affects and shapes the future depending greatly on
how much license it gets from us. In this essay, I will be exploring how Collins
transcends into the realm of whether to embrace or reject the inherent gene,
which is history, and relates to it to self-identity in these three focus poems
Some Final Words, Death Beds and To A stranger Born in Some Distant Country Hundreds of Years From Now
To start off with, Billy Collins suggests the meaning of
History in Some Final Words and To A stranger Born in Some Distant Country
Hundreds of Years From Now to be an entity that is more or less a wraith
that should not have an immense impact on the being that we are today “the past
is nothing […] best forgotten” and he does this through assimilation “I bet
nobody there likes a wet dog either”. The impact on the reader is one of a
sense of belonging in the world. In Death
Beds, Collins evinces the meaning of History as close to about unproductive
in the hunt for the meaning of life through his description of how each age
from the ancients to the medieval Christians, whatever their methods are, could
not provide a clue as to the elucidation of life when on the verge of death. This creates uneasiness in the reader as fear
spreads threateningly around him. The themes the poet explores throughout are
death “others roll over once and are gone”, humor “Nobody here likes a wet dog”,
darkness “under the heavy black cloth” and melancholy “walk alone under the
stars […] feeling nothing”. In terms of relating it to history, these themes
are its circling stars, in a sense that they are the elemental traits of it.
History is dead and melancholic. The humor added is just Collins’ way of making
the heavy subject bearable to the reader. After all, the poet is “is famous for
conversational, witty poems that welcome readers with humor but often slip into
[…] profound observation”. This allures the reader into analyzing his history,
and evaluating how it has affected him, and asking himself the whether to allow
it to play a major role in life or not.
Moreover, the tone of To
A stranger Born in Some Distant Country
Hundreds of Years From Now and Death
Beds is quite casual and humorous “nobody here likes a wet dog” “behold the
seraphic glow the dry fever brought to their faces”. This is done by Billy in
order to make the heavy subject accessible to the reader. And it is successful
as the reader does not feel uncomfortable when encountering ponderous topics
such as death and darkness. Collins’s peculiar tone makes him laugh softly. And
this is further enhanced by his capacity to turn dull or ordinary moments such
as the one in To A stranger Born in Some Distant
Country Hundreds of Years From Now into profound moments “O stranger of the
future”, which have a deeper meaning. The reader is quite honestly delighted at
this enterprise, because he ends up seeing Billy Collins as an honest and
clever man. However, the tone in Some
Final Words is quite dark and softly threatening “down these dark paths”
“crisp October air”, and there is certain violence to it “sudden death”
“collective gasp” “creaking” “flee”. This all amounts to a warning to the
present-day reader of what might happen if he does not carve out a better
vision for the world. The reader is scared and fearful, which is an unusual
feeling induced a poet like Billy. The mood, in the same poem, is quite frosty
and cold “steely behind the bare trees”, which makes the reader feel
intensified at the pressure induced by the message of this poem. The mood of To A stranger Born in Some Distant Country
Hundreds of Years From Now is quite different in a sense that it is relaxed
and comfortable. I mean, after all, it is set in a pub.
Furthermore, Billy Collins explores history through a series
of fantasy poetic devices to enhance the meaning of the language and portray
emotional history. Indeed, in Some Final
Words, he uses metaphors “[history] it is a well spring of sorrow that
waters a field of bitter vegetation”. This deceives the reader, as like any
other human being; he hopes to find in it his self-identity. Metaphors are also
used in Death Beds to reflect back history
to time, in a sense that it is eternal “the moon making its million-mile
journey”. This makes the reader feel like he is a part of something universally
bigger; perhaps he is making his mark throughout time. Imagery is also a tool
used to portray emotional history. In To
A stranger Born in Some Distant Country Hundreds of Years From Now, “But
everyone pushes her away, some with a knee, others with the sole of a boot”
refers to how no matter how ‘wet’ or in other words dirty or horrible
historical incidents are, they should not be put aside or left for something
other than what they are. This is also mentioned in The History Teacher poem, having morale of not tainting History
lighter when teaching it to children. In Some
Final Words, imagery is used to encourage moving on from the past “arise
from the couch of melancholy where the window-light falls against your face”
which unconsciously relieves the reader, because whether we’re aware of it or
not, our history is one of many burdens we carry in life. In Death Beds, imagery is more of an
encouragement to mark your print, suggesting it to be the purpose of life “a
drop of rain on a yellow leaf”. There is an unintentional pressure Billy puts
on the reader, feeling as though he has to accomplish something now before he dies.
Something meaningful that will satisfy him. Personification is perceived to
portray emotional history, whether it is in To
A stranger Born in Some Distant Country Hundreds of Years From Now with
“Look how she wanders around the crowded pub”, or in Some Final Words with “the sun rides across the autumn sky”.
Respectively, in the first one, humanizing the dog by the third person mirrors
the reader, which makes him feel sad, because it feels like it is him that is unwanted.
To add to that, to portray physical history, Billy Collins uses,
in To A stranger Born in Some Distant
Country Hundreds of Years From Now and Some
Final Words, repetition-rhyme “dog […] dog” “I bet […] I bet” “Forget […]
Forget”. This is relating to how history keeps repeating itself, and the mad
fool that is humanity as it never learns from its mistakes. This makes the
reader feel idiotic as he realizes Billy is probably right, and thus makes him
reduce his dependence on the past. In Death
Beds, Collins uses rhyme to portray physical history “awareness […] mattress”
“window […] pillow”. In each of these two quotes, the beginning words
‘awareness’ and ‘window’ are the key parts of the message Collins is trying to
convey. He is advising the reader to be conscious of the past, not to reject it,
but to pave a better future for history. The effect on the reader is that it
incites in a new passion to change the world, despite Collins’s simplistic way
of approaching him. The reader therefore vows a solemn oath to the poet .The
following tactic Billy uses to convey physical history is through the shape of
these three poems. Indeed, Some Final
Words and To A stranger Born in Some
Distant Country Hundreds of Years From Now are in an uneven shape,
suggesting that the past cannot be controlled, nor can it be changed into what
you want.
No comments:
Post a Comment