Poetry research of ‘Introduction to Poetry’ The Poem “Introduction to Poetry” is by Billy Collins, an English poet, and it is about how teachers typically force college students to over-analyze poetry and try decipher every possible meaning portrayed over the poem rather than allowing the scholars to form their own interpretation of the poem based on their own encounters. Throughout the poem, a number of literary devices are used. For example: “or press a great ear against its hive”.
Making use of this metaphor, Billy Collins is definitely comparing the body of a poem to the beehive of a bee. The beehive of a bee appears to be anything dangerous and unknown, like a new composition, never prior to seen, with which one is new. Using this metaphor, Billy Collins is recommending that one should get an energy of the poem simply by reading it merely requires as one can have a sense of strength by pressing one’s ear to a beehive of a bee. The nature of a bee is particularly busy and bees happen to be creatures that seem to be constantly on the go.
In this way, Billy Collins is suggesting that whilst the reader is usually digesting the poem, they should regularly be ‘feeling’ the poem and be busily analyzing it. By evaluating the poem to a hive, he is as well saying that, like a hive, a poem abounds with intense life. The characteristics shared by the two metaphoric images are extremely similar, as a result, it is an effective comparison. The poem is effectively personified once again throughout the lines: “or walk inside a poem’s room”.
Here, Billy Collins shows that the poem’s room, consist of word, their body or perhaps what the poem contains, like a room of a person, describes the composition. One can learn a lot regarding another by viewing their room. Like a room as well, which is private and should not be invaded, one should not really invade a poem in the sense that one should not analyze that too seriously. Another effective metaphor, “I want those to water-ski across the surface from the poem” is employed in this poem.
Billy Collins is evaluating water-skiing over the surface with the water to the way in which this individual believes poetry should be read which is carefully and simply on the surface. This is a highly effective metaphor as water-skiing results in a great sense of happiness and is entertaining, just as studying a composition – in Billy Collins’ opinion – should be. The utilization of onomatopoeic devices and onomatopoeic words are abundant in this poem. For instance, “I declare drop a mouse into a poem” is actually a line whereby the word “drop”, a very onomatopoeic word, properly suggests that you of a composition must softly analyze a poem.
This is portrayed through the gentle ‘p’ sound with the word and this is therefore effective while the reader gets a sense of the gentleness Billy Collins wants his readers had in terms of analyzing poems. The fact that enjambment can be used throughout the poem such as inside the lines, “like a colour glide or press an headsets against it is hive” shows a lack of framework and therefore stresses the initial entertainment one feels when browsing a poem before the chore of studying it starts.
This is also stressed through the fact that the composition is a free of charge verse poem. The poem suddenly turns into much more dark in the last stanza and a Billy Collins explains just how teachers, students or general readers of poetry ‘torture’ a composition by being what he believes is cruelly analytical. He says, “all they need to do is usually tie the poem into a chair with rope and torture a confession away of it”. Here, the poem has been personified just as before and this may result in an almost man connection between the reader as well as the poem.
This use of personification is effective as it makes the reader feel to some degree guilty pertaining to over-analyzing a poem. This kind of line is usually a metaphor. The way in which one particular analyzes a poem will be compared to a victim being tied down to a chair and having a confession tortured out of them. This metaphor is effective as, such as a rope pinning down a person will be very restricted, over-analyzing a poem narrows the focus and constricts it from just allowing it to become. They begin beating this with a hose to find out what it really means”. This really is a continuation of the metaphor and is impressive as it firmly portrays a feeling of inhumanity throughout the choice of ‘hose’ as an object with which to torture instead of a typical weapon. One can just imagine how unpleasant this would be and again, causes the reader to almost accord with the poem. The composition sends a strong message to its visitors and is substantially clear in its message to never delve too deep into the message of any poem.
