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.

How much better to step onto
the simple bathroom scale,
a happy earthling feeling
the familiar rope of gravity,

157 pounds standing soaking wet
a respectful distance from the sun.

The poem ‘Earthling’ by Billy Collins is about appreciating who you are. In this day and age more and more focus is placed on our appearances. Collins recounts an experience which many of his readers can relate to (going to a museum) this is also shown by the directness in the first two stanzas that begin with “You”, this proves that the poem is a message to all who read it, assuming they can relate to the situation. I feel that the directness of the first lines open a doorway for the reader to receive the message of the poem, because this is clearly a poem intended to be read by others.

  Collins mentions the “fat ones” and the “emaciated” - this shows how we are never truly contented with our appearances, as was discussed on an episode of TED, where it was established that “half the world is starving the other half is trying to lose weight”. Appearances, particularly weight and size, have been obsessed over by society and the idea of perfection has been endorsed and distributed by magazines and advertisements. When we consider that Collins says nothing (in the second last stanza) about focusing on the number that the “simple bathroom scale” reveals but rather pays attention to the “happy earthling feeling” that we feel knowing where we are exactly and feeling safe because of this. From this we can see that Collins expresses the wish that we could all be “a happy earthling” instead of obsessing over how much we would weigh on “Mars” or “Neptune” or Earth. At the last stanza Collins reveals the number that the scale showed and I feel he has done this to show the insignificance of the number because what follows are two contrasting ideas –“standing soaking wet” and “a respectful distance from the sun” this shows the appreciation that we are far enough from the sun to remain “soaking wet” unlike on other planets where water would evaporate far too quickly for us to remain wet or even alive. This concept is humorous and helps the reader to disregard the previously mentioned number, I believe that humour is the best way to criticise society and convey a message and playwrights like Oscar Wilde and Shakespear will agree-

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.

I think that sometimes we take for granted how the world is naturally designed for us to survive on it and we focus on the insignificant details such as our appearance and what other people think we should be. I believe that is what Billy Collins expresses in this poem, that no matter who we are or what we look like, we are lucky to be living in a world as wonderful as ours, and that’s what society should focus on for a change.