On Mr. Collins

Billy Collins


I think Billy Collins writes the kind of poetry I can enjoy. Perhaps the only kind of poetry I can enjoy. When you read a poem by Mr. Collins the task set before you is not deciphering the purpose of a line break or the meaning behind a word choice. Surely, he puts thought into such choices but said choices are merely incidental. The point of his poetry is to understand what he is saying and to consider it in the very same way you might read a haiku by Basho or a word of wisdom from the Dalai Lama.

Certainly this is the desire of most poetry - to make you think about what they wrote. But oftentimes you spend time wondering, "What the hell does 'Spending scarlet like a woman' mean?" I don't quite understand why intent should be so hidden. The pleasure of fiction is usually in the story. With a writer like James Joyce, the way it is written is of equal or greater importance than the story, but who can argue that the end of The Dead is not great specifically because of what is being said rather than how it is being written?

Maybe the second most important aspect of Billy Collins's poetry is his sense of humor. In Grave, he reveals that his idea of "the one hundred Chinese silences" is completely made-up. But when you consider the idea, you can see it's quietly interesting, if not perhaps profound and I think that is the most important aspect of his writing - profundity. He never leaves with a cheap joke or meaningless word choice. There's always a deeper idea present in his poetry and that's why I love it.