“Introduction to Poetry” Billy Collins

Billy Collins Biography

“Introduction to Poetry” I ask them to take a poem and hold it up to the light like a color slide or press an ear against its hive. I say drop a mouse into a poem and watch him probe his way out, or walk inside the poem's room and feel the walls for a light switch.

“Introduction to Poetry” I want them to waterski across the surface of a poem waving at the author's name on the shore. But all they want to do is tie the poem to a chair with rope and torture a confession out of it. They begin beating it with a hose to find out what it really means.

Reading Check & Interpretations What feeling does Billy Collins create in these lines: “I say drop a mouse into a poem / and watch him probe his way out, / or walk inside the poem’s room / and feel the walls for a light switch”? Tip Interpreting: When you interpret, you use your own understanding of the world to decide what something means. Think about How a mouse in a maze might feel How you would feel in a dark room, searching for the light switch

Reading Check & Interpretations What does the simile in lines 1-3 suggest about the way we should approach a poem? Based on the image in lines 9-11, how does the poet want you to feel when you read a poem? What is the message or theme of this poem? What qualities of this poem make it enjoyable to read?