Introduction to Poetry by Billy Collins, How I Discovered Poetry by Marilyn Nelson (Essay Sample)

Name of Student
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Poetry
The poems: ‘Introduction to Poetry’ by Billy Collins, ‘How I Discovered Poetry’ by Marilyn Nelson, ‘Poetry Should Ride the Bus’ by Ruth Forman, ‘How Poetry Comes to Me’ by Gary Snyder, ‘Making it in Poetry’ by Bob Hicok, and ‘Poem’ by Carlos Williams have related themes. Each of them have a theme that contributes in explaining the meaning and/or the significance of poetry but are different in how they bring out this explanation.
To start with, Billy Collins’ ‘Introduction to Poetry’ dramatizes the conflict between fun and difficulty/complexity of poetry. In an interview by Elizabeth Farnsworth of the PBS NewsHour, on this poem, Collins says, “I want them to water-ski 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” (356). In this statement, Collins shows the antagonistic nature of students when they are reading poems. Students do not want to get the real purpose of poetry, but quickly goes ahead to judge it by its complexity. The speaker in this poem is a teacher telling students that they should find fun in poetry by understanding it instead of focusing on its complexity. The largest part of the poem is written with a cheerful tone, where the speaker explains that poetry should be enjoyed. For instance, in the ninth line, Billy Collins writes, “I want them to water-ski”. Water-skiing can be understood in two ways; a fun sport and a hard game to understand. In this regard it is apparent that the Collins wanted to show that although poetry is complex and difficult, it is to be enjoyable. Billy Collins also uses the statement, “feel the wall for a light switch” and the simile “like a color slide” (356) to imply that poetry is fun, but the readers must see through a poem in order to understand and enjoy it. Towards the end of the poem, Collins contrasts the fun in poetry in a humorous tone, where he mentions “torture” and “beating” (356). Here, he shows that readers like to concentrate on the complexity of poetry instead of seeing the fun in it.
The poem “How I Discovered Poetry” by Marilyn Nelson illustrates that the poetry is for everyone; even those that are looked down upon. This poem’s narrator is a student telling a general public how he/she overcame fear in reading poetry and for this reason caught the attention of his classmates who used to despise him. In these terms, it is also clear that this poem shows that poetry can earn you respect. In an interview by Teenreads, Marilyn Nelson says, “the effect on my white classmates of her humiliating me” (378) to show that the narrator of the poem overcame his/her teacher’s humiliation by being able to read a poem. In other words, Marilyn means that poetry earned the narrator back his/her respect, meaning that poetry has a bigger role in the society than most people would understand. In writing this poem, Marilyn uses words, statements, and phrases with hidden meanings making it hard for a reader to quickly grasp the theme of the poem. For example, she uses the words “darkie”, “packaninnies”, and “disses” to mean a black person, and the statement “to the all except for me class” (378). Without being curious, a reader could not easily notice that the narrator is speaking about racism. This poem is similar to Billy Collins poem because they both show appreciation for poetry. Billy Collins shows that poetry should be fun and Marilyn Nelson shows that poetry can earn a person respect and that it is for all. However, although the two poems are based in the setting of a school, the latter uses the concept of racism to bring out her idea while Billy uses the concept of how to read in a way that allows one to understand and enjoy poems. In my opinion, both of the poets maneuvers through their chosen concepts effectively, and successfully brings out their intended influence. On reading the two poems, I experienced a higher appreciation for poetry. They showed me a greater purpose for this art than I had before.
Same as Nelson’s ‘How I Discovered Poetry’ and Collins’ ‘Introduction to Poetry’, the main theme of Ruth Forman’s ‘Poetry Should Ride the Bus’ is to show appreciation for poetry. Unlike the first two poets, Forman dwells entirely on imagery to show what poetry should do. In fact, the title, “Poetry Should Ride the Bus” is imagery with a deeper meaning that poetry should lead. Forman uses “polka dot dress” and “bright-red lipstick practicing kisses in the mirror” (402) to show how poetry impresses men. The poem’s use of imagery perfectly achieves the purpose of the poem and at the end of reading the poem one feels that poetry deserves a better position than it currently holds in the society. This poem, however, did not convince me to like poetry as much as the two previously discussed poems probably because the two talks of real life issues.
The poem ‘How Poetry comes to Me’ reveals poetry as a natural value and gift of life that someone spends his/her lifetime looking for. The use of the word ‘my’ (421) in the fourth line shows that the poem is written in the first person, which in turn indicates that the poet is also the speaker in the poem. In this poem, Gary Synders expresses himself as strongly attached to his poems. In the first and second line where he says, “It comes blundering over the Boulders at night, it stays” (421), Synders want to reassure people that his poems are sincere and real. He also describes his poems as extraordinary when he says “I go meet it at the edge of the light” which means that he composes his poems away from what is already known in order to come up with something new. Although this poem is similar to the three poems discussed above in the sense that it shows a higher value for poetry, it is a bit different because the poet narrows the value to his own poems. This is clearly reveled when he says “Frightened outside the range of my campfire” and when he uses the word ‘my’ (421). Same as Forman’s poem, this poem influenced me only a little towards having a higher value for poetry because of the personification. With this personification, Synders seems more like he is praising his poems rather than showing what they really are. This aspect of him was revealed during an interview by Nicholas Readings and Jennifer Merrifield, where he said, “when I started writing poetry, I carried on very neatly”.
Bob Hicok’s “How to Make It in Poetryâ&e...