"The Dead" By Billy Collins

Billy Collins seems to address the topic of death more then once in his poem collection Questions About Angels. This essay will analyze how he does this and in what context.
            Firstly, in his poem The Dead, he starts by saying that “The dead are always looking down on us…” This obviously suggests that there I life after death, which I think Collins believes in. In the next line he goes on to say a completely normal, everyday thing, which undermines the first line because he goes from saying something mysterious to something contrary. After this he explains; “They are looking down through the glass bottom boats of heaven as they row themselves slowly through eternity.” Collins is so good at using imagery that is so clear that it gives the reader a vivid image of the ‘dead’ rowing themselves through the sky in their “glass bottom boats, ” Furthermore, by using the adjective “slowly,” it becomes easier to imagine because one thinks of the boat on the river Styx, (Greek mythology, the river you must cross to get to the underworld) which rows slowly across the black waters.

To continue, in the second stanza, Billy Collins goes back to everyday life saying, “They watch the top of our heads moving below on earth…” I think he is trying to suggest that although death is a prominent thing, life still goes on regardless of the loss of friends or family. By making the entire last stanza one sentence, he further exaggerates the “waiting” that “The Dead,” do when they think we are looking up at them as he makes the stanza drag on for longer. In addition to this, he says that sometimes “They think we are looking back at them, which makes them lift their oars and fall silent and wait, like parents, for us to close our eyes.” This gives the reader a sense of comfort as Collins uses the words “Parents,” which a person usually relates with home and someone who takes care of you. Furthermore, by using this simile, I think Collins is further suggesting the death of friends and family. He is trying to say that although we cannot see them they will always be there looking down on us “through the glass bottom boats of heaven.” Finally, by making the entire last stanza one sentence, he further exaggerates the “waiting” that “The Dead,” do when they think we are looking up at them as he makes the stanza drag on for longer.

Conclusively, I think when writing this poem Billy Collins was trying to picture what life was like after death. He obviously got inspiration from greek mythology from the River Styx and drifting along through eternity in a "Glass Boat."