Breaking Down Billy Collins

Annotation of Billy Collins "Introduction to Poetry":

I ask them to take a poem           
and hold it up to the light
like a color slide

(Obviously about a poem of his own, he asks or expects the people he allows to read it to handle it in a certain way, 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,

(He wants us to figure our own way out of his poems, and to wrestle our own interpretations from them)

or walk inside the poem's room
and feel the walls for a light switch.

I want them to water-ski
across the surface of a poem
waving at the author's name on the shore.

(All of the imagery and symbols used until this point were very positive and bright. Here, we see a shift where the examples become much darker and dreary, in order to represent the difference between how people view his poems and how he wants his poems to be viewed.)

But all they want to do is tie the poem to a chair with a rope
and torture a confession out of it.

They begin beating it with a hose to find out what it really means.


(Instead of honoring his wishes in regards to his poetry, the people he refers to as "they"--most likely literary critics--only want to tear his paper apart in order to analyze for their own personal gain)
Five Claims:

Billy Collins uses imagery in order to change the mood of his poem from positive to downright dreary, and send a message to critics that his art is to be appreciated.

Billy Collins uses a mood change to drive home the fact that there are good and bad ways to view poems and art.

Billy Collins attempts to critique the critics by boldly claiming that he wants his poems to be appreciated and not torn apart.

In comedic fashion, Billy Collins points out the irony of critiquing a poem to the point where the reader forgets to enjoy it.

Billy Collins shows us what overthinking can lead to when analyzing poetry, and encourages readers to take their time to enjoy what he writes.