The History Teacher.

Shannon Hale , an accomplished author of six novels says “Mama used to say, you have to know someone a thousand days before you can glimpse her soul.” People will never fully understand the situation someone is going through if they themselves have never experienced such emotions. Billy Collins is no stranger to this statement as expressed in his thought-provoking ruefully resonant poem ‘The History Teacher.’

The free versed poem is told in third person narrative as an observer who tries to narrate the ongoings of the History and the reasons behind them. The poem tugs on the compassion that the said character  has “trying to protect his students’ innocence” from “The War of the Roses” by shielding them from the truth. “While he gathered up his notes and walked home past flower beds and white picket fences, wondering if they believe that soldiers in the Boer War told long, rambling stories designed to make the enemy nod off,” said Billy Collins trying to insinuate that people who have not undergone such trauma are easy to forget the sacrifices that were made for them in order to live the lives they have now. Billy Collins may be referring to the world shocking event that happened in America, the 9/11, an act of terrorism that caused many deaths and made many Americans lose their family members. Over 3,000 people were killed during the attacks in New York City and Washington, D.C. The poem itself might be an expression on how Billy Collins thinks parents are handling the misfortune by downplaying it to their children to prevent from worrying and give an illusion of  safety to their innocent children.

On Turning Ten

 On Turning Ten by Billy Collins

Growing up and childhood experiences is a motif repeatedly mentioned in a lot of Billy Collin's poetry.  Whether its reminiscing on the glories or the growth, what I as reader interpret is that childhood is a key influence in the poet's life hence the constant repetition.

My particular favorite regarding childhood is the poem 'On Turning Ten' which a humorous insight on joys of childhood and the woes of growing up. Turning ten is usually quite a big step in childhood because its when you hit the first double digits number and it might also be considered a right of passage in some cultures. Therefore, with the title beginning with 'On Turning Ten' which insinuates the poet wants to further explain this issue, Collin's tackles not only a very relatable age but unfortunately one that not many people choose to ponder on. I believe this is what makes this poem more unique because everyone will write something on becoming a teenager or becoming an adult but many often forget other special times such as when you ten.

Moving on, in the poem of 5 stanzas, the first stanza tabulated with 7 lines is perhaps the most interesting stanza. Firstly in this stanza, the topic of discussion is subtly introduced with a conversational yet slightly opinionated tone. The poet doesn't start with mentioning that he will be talking about turning ten, but rather he dives in into his emotions regarding ten. It is through the use of the figurative phrase "coming down with something" that the negative implication of turning this new chapter in age is introduced in the poem. Already one can tell that the narrator is not looking forward to it. Adding on, Collins uses a set of metaphors to further emphasize on his emotions. With references to illnesses such as "measles...mumps...chicken pox" which are common during early childhood, I think the poet tries to imply that like these illnesses, turning ten is unavoidable.

As Walt Disney once stated, "the real trouble with the world" is that "too many people grow up" and with growing comes forgetting what it was like to be a child. Therefore, in the second the stanza of this poem, Collins takes us down the memory lane where we remember the "perfect simplicity of being one" and the "beautiful complexity introduced by two". By using contradictory words such as simplicity and complexity to describe two different ages, the poet highlights the fact just growing up to ten was an adventure. It's a journey where "at four I was an Arabian wizard...at seven...a soldier...at nine a prince"! Throughout the stanza, the excitement is illustrated through the imagination of the child. The fact that the poet keeps describing what the child was up until the last sentence shows of the relenting spirit of the child to believe in just about anything.

Yet, despite this, as the poem comes to a close, the adverse effect of growing up and saying "goodbye to my imaginary friends" is witnessed through the solemn mood of the receding stanzas. Instead of the boundless activity incriminated with being young, the boredom and the "beginning of sadness" for the child is now depicted. In fact, even the initial strong hate towards turning ten exemplified the first stanza is now reduced to a sense of defeat yet also acceptance.

It is at this point that I as a reader, I am inclined to reflect on my life and think just how growing up has changed my perspective on life. Before ten, I was a surgeon fixing up countless dolls that the evil terminator (my brother) had ruthlessly destroyed. After ten, I was too cool for Barbie and it was time for TV and other 'grown-up' stuff. Yet as I grow up, one thing I cannot deny is that childhood has distinctively influenced my life.

 

"It seems only yesterday I used to believe

there was nothing under my skin but light.

If you cut me I would shine.

but now when I fall upon the sidewalks of life,

I skin my knees. I bleed."

'Taking Off Emily Dickinson's Clothes'

WHO IS EMILY DICKINSON?

Have you ever wondered who Emily Dickinson was?

Or what Billy Collins relationship with her poetry is all about?

Here is a link that briefly describes Dickinson's life and death- https://www.youtube.com/ emily dickinson

Taking Off Emily Dickinson's Clothes

First, her tippet made of tulle,

easily lifted off her shoulders and laid

on the back of a wooden chair.

And her bonnet,

the bow undone with a light forward pull.

Then the long white dress, a more

 complicated matter with mother-of-pearl

buttons down the back,

so tiny and numerous that it takes forever

before my hands can part the fabric,

like a swimmer's dividing water,

and slip inside.

You will want to know 

that she was standing

by an open window in an upstairs bedroom,

motionless, a little wide-eyed,

looking out at the orchard below,

the white dress puddled at her feet 

on the wide-board, hardwood floor.

The complexity of women's undergarments

in nineteenth century America

is not to be waved off,

and I proceed like a polar explorer

through clips, clasps, and moorings,

catches, straps, and whalebone stays, 

sailing toward the iceberg of her nakedness.

Later, I wrote in a notebook

it was like riding a swan into the night

but, of course, I cannot tell you everything-

the way she closed her eyes to the orchard,

how her hair tumbled free of its pins,

how there were sudden dashes

whenever we spoke.

What i can tell you is

it was terribly quiet in Amherst

that Sabbath afternoon,

nothing but a carriage passing the house,

a fly buzzing in a windowpane.

So I could plainly hear her inhale

when I undid the very top

hook-and-eye fastener of her corset.

and I could hear her sigh when finally it was unloosened,

the way some readers sigh when they realize

that Hope has feathers

that reason is a plank,

that life is a loaded gun

that looks right at you with a yellow eye.

This poem in particular is one of my favourites because Collins literally takes off Emily Dickinson's clothes. Despite the sexual connotations associated with this poem, it is something people have been trying to do metaphorically since her death. There is very little information about Emily Dickinson so like Collins we must use her poetry to determine who she was. Below is a link to an interview of Billy Collins on Fresh Air Radio. In this interview he explains his fascination with Dickinson's poetry and his opinion on her history. 

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128272101