Introduction to Poetry

Prompt

Read Billy Collins' "An Introduction to Poetry" and answer the following questions.

What is the basic situation of the poem? Who are "I" and "them"?

Explain the simile in line 3. From that point onward through line 11, the speaker invents a series of metaphors. For each of them, define what a poem is compared to and how the metaphor expresses some characteristic of poetry. For example, how is a poem like a "hive" of buzzing bees?

The last five lines present a single extended metaphor to express what "they want to do" when they encounter a poem. What are "they" and "the poem" compared to, and how do these comparisons reflect a different attitude toward poetry from the ones expressed in the first eleven lines? What ultimately, does this poem express about poetry and its readers?

Response

The speaker of the poem "I" seems to be someone who appreciates the aspects of a poem, likely a teacher or someone guiding others in the interpretation/appreciation of poetry. The "them" seems to refer to people who are either students of poetry or general readers who are trying to understand what a poem "means" in a very literal or simplistic way.

"like a color slide": It shows how a poem should be held up to the light like a "color slide" to reveal its intricate layers and depths. It kinds of reminds me of how when you look at a slide in biology through a microscope, you examine it's details - what's it's really made of. Color slides reveal their full images when held up to light, much like how a poem reveals its meanings through analysis.

"press an ear against its hive" Just as a hive of bees has complexity, life, and interconnectedness, a poem also contains these elements.

"drop a mouse into a poem and watch him probe his way out" A poem is like a maze that needs to be navigated. This represents the intellectual challenge and "exploration" involved in understanding a poem.

"walk inside the poem's room and feel the walls for a light switch" A poem is compared to a room that one needs to explore in the dark initially. The act of "feeling the walls for a light switch" probably shows that understanding comes through interaction and exploration.

"waterski across the surface of a poem waving at the author’s name on the shore" The poem is like a body of water that one can skim across while still acknowledging the author. The meaning is the poem can be enjoyed at the surface level, but there's depth beneath if one chooses dive into it.

In these lines, "they" and "the poem" are compared to a torturer and a captive. This metaphor portrays a very different attitude towards poetry, one that is aggressive. It feels rather targeted and focused. This contrasts to the earlier metaphors that focus on exploration, nuance, and multiple layers of meaning.