Read as we discuss the poetry of poet laureate Billy Collins from his collection 'Taking off Emily Dickinson's Clothes.' We are A-level literature students from Braeburn School Arusha, Tanzania (in Africa) and welcome constructive discussion and viewpoints.
Tuesday 12 May 2015
'Hunger' by Billy Collins
Hunger
by Billy Collins
The fox you lug over your shoulder
in a dark sack
has cut a hole with a knife
and escaped.
The sudden lightness makes you think
you are stronger
as you walk back to your small cottage
through a forest that covers the world.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_ATQ_hliKk
(this is the youtube link to the poem read by Billy Collins)
Billy Collins poem 'Hunger' is a short poem which blurs the lines between what is real and what is imaginary with the involvement of symbols. Foxes have two contrasting symbolic theories. The first symbol is the most common, the fox is believed to be a very cunning trickster. However the second symbol describes the fox to be a noble guide and messenger who is honored for it's wisdom. The polarity between the two symbols leaves the reader to their own interpretation on how positive or negative the fox is in this poem. Moreover, the "dark sack" is a literal illustration of the things we "carry" with us in the journey of life. In this case it would be success as a fox is not an easy prey that you have outwitted. Nonetheless, the barer of this success becomes arrogant when he mistakes his loss for strength. In his sack he contained both his success (the fox) and his misgivings (the knife). This leads to his misgivings giving way for his success to "escape" and become void. It returns to "the forest that covers the world". When we look at the description of a "small cottage" in contrast to a "forest that covers the world" it reminds us that no matter how grand our accomplishments are we are all just a small part of a wider planet. No matter what esteem you may hold your success or yourself in the end you are no more significant than any other. The forest symbolizes mystery and fairy tales as it is inhabited by a variety of creatures and species. It is also a place of death, danger and the testing of character as it holds the secrets of nature. The forest is also the home of the out laws, this would explain the relation with the fox and according to Celtic realm "the fox knows the woods intimacy". The cottage also symbolizes human modernization as an opposition to the nature of the forest. Lets look at the definition of hunger; "a feeling of discomfort or weakness caused by lack of food, coupled with the desire to eat" or better yet "to have a strong desire or craving". (I guess we wont be having fox tonight.) I believe the second definition is more suitable. Therefore the title describes the strong desire or craving of success. All in all, I believe the poem is talking about the end of success at the beginning of arrogance and isolation.
By Sekela Thambikeni
Earthling by Billy Collins
You have probably come across
those scales in planetariums
that tell you how much you
weigh on other planets.
You have noticed the fat ones
lingering on the Mars scale
and the emaciated slowing up
the line for Neptune.
As a creature of average weight,
I fail to see the attraction.
Imagine squatting in the wasteland
of Pluto, all five tons of you,
or wandering around Mercury
wondering what to do next with your ounce.
the simple bathroom scale,
a happy earthling feeling
the familiar rope of gravity,
157 pounds standing soaking wet
a respectful distance from the sun.
Furthermore, he recognises that on different planets we
would be different people but he also recognises that it’s better to be on
earth where it is “familiar”- the word “familiar” implies comfort which is
related to happiness, although we could be on different planets being strange,
instead he encourages us to enjoy the ‘familiarity’ of our planet which is “a
respectful distance from the sun”- this shows how the earth is perfect, as we are
the ideal distance from the sun so that ‘creatures’ like us can survive. We
know the poem is his personal opinion because he “fails to see the attraction”
of living somewhere other than earth. The structure of the poem is repeated and
forms a sort of pattern with: two unrhymed quatrain stanzas followed by an
unrhymed couplet, and this structure is repeated twice showing a type of
comfort and familiarity similar to what the poet feels about living on earth.
BAR TIME by Billy Collins
BAR TIME by Billy Collins.
Billy Collins explores how people spend too much time in bars enjoying themselves leaving or trying to forget their troubled lives behind even if it’s only for 15 minutes. But then eventually time catches to them this is seen in the last stanza it says “when ordinary time slouches past in a topcoat rain running off the brim of his hat.” Billy Collins uses symbolism to show how one begins to wonder if they have some kind of choice other than running after time or taking life easily in a while thinking that they can outline their troubles.
The poem is
under the category of humor I personally think it’s funny and ironic because it’s
mocking the society on how they set and use their time and also how to avoid
their problems.
The poem is
structured into four stanzas, it has long sentences which make it fluid and it
is almost as if he is having a conversation with himself because it’s in first
person and he is making direct sentence.
The tone of the poem is monotonous because it doesn’t change and it is a
free verse poem since it has no rhyme.
I personally
think the “bar” is just a setting that Billy Collins used but his main message to
the readers is that the poem can make one feel aware of those moments when you
are able to step outside time. This can be verified through the quote “this makes us a rather advanced group doing our drinking
in the unknown future”. It
portrays how people are able to step outside time and observe themselves and other people rushing
around doing things that we all probably think or thought are so dynamic and necessary.
I think the poem also signifies self-expression through the idea of being
hyper-aware of simple moments. I really love the poem because it conveys how
simply capitalizing ordinary time turns into this person we can see instead of
just getting an idea. For instance in the last stanza when it says, “no wonder such thoughtless pleasure derives from tending the
small fire of a cigarette, from observing this glass of whiskey and ice, the
cold rust I am sipping”. It is an imagery that made me imagine
people drink and smoke in a bar and watching the rest of the world scrubbing their
cars across the streets thinking they look “like
they have never had a day of fun in their whole life.” I can
say that the poem is compact and clever and does make one really think about
life in general.
By REGINA CHIPANDA.
Child
Development
by Billy Collins
As sure as prehistoric fish grew legs
and sauntered off the beaches into forests
working up some irregular verbs for their
first conversation, so three-year-old children
enter the phase of name-calling.
Every day a new one arrives and is added
to the repertoire. You Dumb Goopyhead,
You Big Sewerface, You Poop-on-the-Floor
(a kind of Navaho ring to that one)
they yell from knee level, their little mugs
flushed with challenge.
Nothing Samuel Johnson would bother tossing out
in a pub, but then the toddlers are not trying
to devastate some fatuous Enlightenment hack.
They are just tormenting their fellow squirts
or going after the attention of the giants
way up there with their cocktails and bad breath
talking baritone nonsense to other giants,
waiting to call them names after thanking
them for the lovely party and hearing the door close.
The mature save their hothead invective
for things: an errant hammer, tire chains,
or receding trains missed by seconds,
though they know in their adult hearts,
even as they threaten to banish Timmy to bed
for his appalling behavior,
that their bosses are Big Fatty Stupids,
their wives are Dopey Dope heads
and that they themselves are Mr. Silly pants
by Billy Collins
As sure as prehistoric fish grew legs
and sauntered off the beaches into forests
working up some irregular verbs for their
first conversation, so three-year-old children
enter the phase of name-calling.
Every day a new one arrives and is added
to the repertoire. You Dumb Goopyhead,
You Big Sewerface, You Poop-on-the-Floor
(a kind of Navaho ring to that one)
they yell from knee level, their little mugs
flushed with challenge.
Nothing Samuel Johnson would bother tossing out
in a pub, but then the toddlers are not trying
to devastate some fatuous Enlightenment hack.
They are just tormenting their fellow squirts
or going after the attention of the giants
way up there with their cocktails and bad breath
talking baritone nonsense to other giants,
waiting to call them names after thanking
them for the lovely party and hearing the door close.
The mature save their hothead invective
for things: an errant hammer, tire chains,
or receding trains missed by seconds,
though they know in their adult hearts,
even as they threaten to banish Timmy to bed
for his appalling behavior,
that their bosses are Big Fatty Stupids,
their wives are Dopey Dope heads
and that they themselves are Mr. Silly pants
Vocabulary
Navaho-1.a member of a North American Indian people of Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah
2.the language of these people, belonging to the Athapascan group of the Na-Dene phylum
Navaho-1.a member of a North American Indian people of Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah
2.the language of these people, belonging to the Athapascan group of the Na-Dene phylum
Invective- Violent or intense scolding, scorn or criticism
Analysis
As the poem inaugurates, Billy Collins grants his notion that we all cross the threshold into this world of name calling assuredly resembling how prehistoric fish grew legs and learned to walk on land. That it is inside all of us and is naturally put into the formation of us as human beings to learn this form of bad mouthing at the age of three. He articulates that everyday new insults are added and they yell them from knee level with their little faces showing their challenging expressions. He uses names like “dumb goopyhead, big Sewerface, and you poop-on-the-floor” as a means to show us how amusing their insults can really be when you think about it. He relates this to trash talk that drunks would use in a bar to upset a foolhardy adult and says “nothing Samuel Johnson would bother tossing out of the pub, but then toddlers are not trying to devastate some fatuous Enlightenment hack.”
As the poem inaugurates, Billy Collins grants his notion that we all cross the threshold into this world of name calling assuredly resembling how prehistoric fish grew legs and learned to walk on land. That it is inside all of us and is naturally put into the formation of us as human beings to learn this form of bad mouthing at the age of three. He articulates that everyday new insults are added and they yell them from knee level with their little faces showing their challenging expressions. He uses names like “dumb goopyhead, big Sewerface, and you poop-on-the-floor” as a means to show us how amusing their insults can really be when you think about it. He relates this to trash talk that drunks would use in a bar to upset a foolhardy adult and says “nothing Samuel Johnson would bother tossing out of the pub, but then toddlers are not trying to devastate some fatuous Enlightenment hack.”
With conviction, classic of Billy Collins, he
says it blatantly, that there isn't much meaning behind this and it is just the
way kids behave and they habitually get scolded for it; repeatedly scolded for
being mean when really they mean nothing by it while adults are the real mean
ones. Their name calling is done behind closed doors and in secrecy
“They are just tormenting their fellow squirts
or going after the attention of the giants
way up there with their cocktails and bad breath
talking baritone nonsense to other giants,
waiting to call them names after thanking
them for the lovely party and hearing the door close.”
There leaves a possibility that behind closed doors,
grown-ups know they are being silly because while children say what they want
then and there adults conceal or disguise it and ever so often save it for
later, inevitably saying the duplicate things as the children had only in other
words.
I do think that Billy Collins proposes that they mean no actual harm with this
way of being, but it’s a way to get their feelings out only the try to be
grownups about it. It shows in the poem his relation to the children’s minds
and how they see adults in saying that
The poem concludes with saying that grownups save their anger or tempers for
inanimate objects, such as “an errant hammer, tire chains, or receding
trains missed by seconds,” that unlike children who just blurt it out to
one another as they see apt, and that even though we discipline our children
for this supposedly atrocious behavior, we then think and realize to ourselves
that we do the same thing, per say when the person turns their back, or at an
object that doesn't even have emotions and can’t talk back to
us, this is evident in the poem when Billy writes that, “though they know in
their adult hearts, even as they threaten to banish Timmy to bed for his
appalling behavior, that their bosses are Big Fatty Stupids, their wives are
Dopey Dope heads, and that they themselves are Mr. Sillypants.”
truancy
The poem carries humorous vibes in the way he compares
adults and their behavior to that of children’s so truthfully and illustrates
frankly that in some ways adults truly never will grow up. A thought on the
message of this poem is that; this very thing that drives adults to care of
what other people think doesn't allow them to express themselves as
most children so freely do.
This poem is relate-able! Because
candidly we've all heard our parents in some way, be it joking or
serous, talk not-so-fondly about one of their friends own friends or about
“how aunt Betty had one too drinks at that wedding and was starting to
embarrass herself let alone them”. This creed or belief system doesn't allow
for adults to be themselves in public and this poem points out bluntly but
makes you laugh along the way.
Putting
Down the Cat.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_cItc8s4IIef7aEj582TbaDQrD2bxMRqdW4GHCfuun7feQF__GZLkvguw2q9AmuNSJv8o-4s7jNkMBNbL-3epapGpsGc0811CxIitHbKLAQlWEtIQ-3de0NK7tLReRwDTaiVx2lI7JPL-/s1600/download.jpeg)
the fur hanging limp from her tiny skeleton,
and the veterinarian raises the needle of fluid
which will put the line through her ninth life.
"Painless," he reassures me, "like counting
backwards from a hundred," but I want to tell him
that our poor cat cannot count at all,
much less to a hundred, much less backwards.
backwards from a hundred," but I want to tell him
that our poor cat cannot count at all,
much less to a hundred, much less backwards.
-----
“Painless he reassures me, like
counting backwards.”
In my opinion this lines holds extreme power
because it’s the line that confirms the cat is actually getting killed and not
just “put down” as many people would’ve interpreted it.
The brief stanzaic pause is
filled with meaning. To me, it shows that even Billy Collins could not
adequately expressed what he felt during that moment of hesitation as the
doctor slowly injects the cat. That moment filled with questions, questions on
whether the doctor was right, was it really not painful? Or how would he know?
He’s never experienced it.
The poem also lead the
reader into asking themselves questions on why the cat had to be put down. Was
it a sickness? Was it age? Was it even the owner’s decision or just the vet’s
that claimed he knew what the cat felt?
“The veterinarian raises the
needle of fluid.”
In that moment, with the
needle raised our heart leaps forward hoping someone would stop him, but deep
down knowing there’s nothing you can do. He’ll do it anyway; he’ll inject the
cat and they’ll all watch it die. The assistant, the vet, the owner.. No one
will stop him. No one can.
Dina Diallo
Another Reason Why I Don'T Keep A Gun In The House-Billy Collins
By Elsa Rottjers
By Elsa Rottjers
The meaning of the poem “Another Reason Why I Don’t Keep
a Gun in the House” by Billy Collins could be about accepting something that irritates
you with something that is out of your control.
The title sets the theme of the whole meaning of the poem,
you can see how irritated the poet is because you don’t know whether he wants
to use the gun on the dog or himself.
The poet uses epimone at the start of the first
and second stanza to emphasise his annoyance with the dogs barking “the neighbour’s
dog will not stop barking”. The poet also uses objectification to show his
annoyance with the dog, “They must switch him on on their way out” as if the
dog where some alarm to personally irritate him, but after the poet has accepted
the irritation he uses imagery to portray that “and now I can see him sitting
in the orchestra” because of his realization that he can’t actually shoot the
dog.
The poem is broken down into 3 sections, the first two stanzas
are portraying the pets annoyance with the dogs barking “but I can still hear
him muffled under the music”, the third stanza almost shows some sort of new
discovery and the poet starts seeing the dog in a new light. And the last two
stanzas show his now acceptance of the dog, this switch in moods is the whole
point of the poem. The poet writes the poem in fist person so the reader can feel
more related to the poem and the poets experience with being irritated. “I close
all the windows in the house”.
Other readers may see the poem not at all about
acceptance but about acquainting something, but that does not mean he still isn’t
annoyed. The poet could be using sarcastic humour to actually show how annoying
he still finds the dog “the endless coda that first established Beethoven as an
innovative genius”
My opinion on the poem is very mixed, although it is very
possible that the poem is about acceptance Billy Collins does not usually write
about such deep emotional breakthroughs, the poet is usually very humorous and
sarcastic so this could be the opposite and show just how annoyed he still is
with that darn dog.
*there's a link at the top of the post*
Friday 8 May 2015
Walking across the Atlantic by Billy Collins.
Billy Collins shows his attachment with nature as his
collection of poems share that same theme. For example, ‘Walking across the Atlantic’ and ‘Driving Animals’ have the common lines “tonight I will sleep on its
rocking surface” and “… rock to sleep in the bow and lift of antlers.” The poet
metaphorically tries to show how he compares the soft waves with a baby being
rocked to sleep.
Focusing on the poem walking
across the Atlantic Ocean, Collins tries to set your mind on nature and internal
conflict. The poem simply talks about a man who isolates himself by crossing
the Atlantic. The reader might see this as a double entente in which the man
has issues within himself as well as issues with the pollution of nature around
him. The first stanza says, “I wait for the holiday crowd to clear the beach
before stepping onto the first wave.” The words “holiday crowd” represents
nature, which is dirty and polluted as mankind is constantly destroying it. The
author mentions the ocean, which is where most water pollution occurs. They
could as well stand for the isolation the poet wants to have in order to settle
down and reflect on his inner issues.
The poet continues to explain the man’s journey as he says,
“…checking for whales, waterspouts.” The whales represent emotional healing and
rebirth as he struggles to connect with his emotion vulnerability and power. When
the poet says,”…I feel the water holding up my shifting weight. Tonight I will
sleep on its rocking surface.” The phrase “holding up my shifting weight” suggests
that his feelings, troubles, problems, and issues are being lifted off his
shoulders. In this case “shifting weight” shows how as the oceans waves move,
so does the density of all his worries. In the quote “…tonight I will sleep on
its rocking surface,” Collins brings an image of a baby to mind, that is being
rocked to sleep safely. Hence the man has reached his safe haven.
When the poet sums up the poem by saying, “but for now I try
to imagine what this must look like to the fish below the bottoms of my feet
appearing, disappearing,” he brings back the theme of nature in which “footsteps”
are a symbol of humans on earth leaving their mark after they have destroyed the
earth. The poem is a metaphor of which the free verse and structure of the poem
makes you picture the flowing of waves in an ocean through the writer’s strong
technique of Imagery.
By Ella Richard.
Thursday 7 May 2015
Travelling on the journey of a ‘Winter Syntax’
Analysis of Winter Syntax by Billy Collins
Finally, not to forget, the use
of winter a setting plays an influential role in the atmosphere of the poem. In
many works of literature, winter is used a symbolism for despair and yet at the
same time hope. Author C.S Lewis often used winter to represent a time of
hopelessness and despair under the rule of the white witch in Narnia.
Therefore, it’s a time where a lot of action doesn’t happen and many things die
due to the depressing conditions. But in the end of winter often comes new
beginnings. In this poem, we evidently witness the harshness of winter, but
towards the end, we note with gratitude that the “lone traveller” indeed
achieves what he wanted to.
Keith Mulvihill climbing the snowy Tuckerman Ravine Trail |
While you’re here, check out the
Poetry Pairing by New York Times, which is a combination of a poem and an audio
slideshow related to the theme of the poem. Here Billy Collins’s ‘Winter Syntax’
is matched with the story of Keith Mulvihill who together with a reporter, photographer and mountaineer, navigate
the snowy Tuckerman Ravine Trail along the Presidential Range in New Hampshire.
Death by Billy Collins
Death by Billy Collins
In the old days news of it traveled by foot.
An aproned woman would wave to her husband
as he receded down the lane, hauling
the stone of the message.
Or someone would bring it out by horse,
a boy galloping, an old man trotting along.
A girl would part the curtain wondering
what anyone would be doing here at this hour,
as he dismounted, hitched the beast to a post,
then lifted the brass knocker, cold as night
But today we have the telephone.
You can hear one from where you are right now,
its hammer almost touching the little bell,
ready to summon you, ready to fall from your hand.
The poem “Death” by Billy Collins is a self
explanatory free verse poem with three stanzas’ that shows the transition of
how the news of death traveled from the “old days” to what we know as “today”.
First and last stanza both have 4 lines; mirroring the ending the way it began.
This could take you back to the saying “from dust you came and dust you shall
return” that is usually recited at funerals. Middle stanza is the longest
showing the longer period of time it would take on horseback compared to the
other means (arguably, if I was going to travel on foot my destination would
not be that far). The constant comma’s in the last two lines of the second
stanza slow down the poem showing the
slowness of the movements, building up the climax as we, the readers, know what
is about to happen even though Collins doesn’t mention it. She will receive THE
news. This repeats on the last two lines of the last stanza where now we are
experiencing the reaction of receiving THE news; the heart stopping shock that
“summons you”. Last stanza is more personal and directly talking to the reader
“you can hear one” instead of telling the story from third person in the first
two stanzas. Ending like that makes the poem more personal to the reader and
makes them reflect.
Collins adds several descriptions that are
related to the theme of death. Firstly the significance of the wave in the first
stanza symbolises the parting of people. Followed by the “stone of the
message”, this relates to the tomb stone placed on grave which bestows the
general message of the loved one who passed away. The brass knocker in the
second stanza resembles the use of brass on traditional coffins as decorations
and handles. Death is usually described as cold and dark or as Collins would
put it “cold as night”. Moreover there is the passing or better yet aging of
time from the “boy galloping” to the “man trotting along”. I believe that this
is the common ideology that most people die due to old age (however this is not
always the case).
Sekela Thambikeni
Wednesday 6 May 2015
Driving With Animals- Billy Collins
by Elsa Rottjers
by Elsa Rottjers
I think the poem is about innocence and the loss of innocence.
In many cultures and traditions the deer is a symbol for innocence. “and rock
to sleep in the bow and lift of antlers” this can be a comparison to a baby
being rocked to sleep. “I feed cassettes into the dash” this personification
can represent growing, because you feed something so that it can grow, and with
growth comes change.
The poem has a simple structure, and free verse which fits
to the child like aspect, but the poem also has long sentences which contrast
against the child like theme which shows the loss of innocence. When you’re a child
everything is so simple, but as you grow life becomes more complicated and it
needs more information and detail to shown.
Although in other traditions the deer is a symbol for “passing
through life with ease” so this could make other readers portray the poem as a
poem about the journey though life. “but there is no red needle to indicate
deer” this could mean that there are no signs in life showing you what to do or
what dissensions to make.
To conclude I really like this poem, because I can relate to
it. I remember being on long drives as a kid staring out the window at the
clouds or looking for animals in the forest through the trees, and now I've
noticed since I'm older I'm not doing that as much as I used to, so as I “lost
my innocence” I lost my wild imagination too.
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