Though Billy Collins was named the poet laureate of the United States, he has received criticism from some about the merit of his works. There are those who argue that his poetry has been dumbed-down and others say that his poems are more of a “stating-the-obvious” type commentary on daily events rather than any type of serious observations. Jeredith Merrin, in particular, labels Collins as a “jokester/charmer” and states that he is “a writer who takes you for a walk on the mild side. What you already know on earth, he assures you, is all you need to know (Merrin, “Art Over Easy”).
However, after reading many of his poems from various stages in his career, I believe that Billy Collins’ works relay an insightful look at life. Not only the day to day aspects but also the life on the grand scale, as the lifespan of a single person and life as it is in our American culture and has changed over the years. Put more succinctly, the common theme to be found in many of his works is a comparison of life in the present with life in past, simpler times.
I do admit that I was first drawn to Billy Collins’ poems because of their straightforward style and laid back attitude. And, I thought his quips about his life experiences were very humorous. Somehow, the way in which he “states the obvious” is downright funny. It got my attention and opened my mind to the more meaningful aspects of the poetry.
Though many of Billy Collins’ poems reflect what I believe to be a common theme, I have chosen a select few that stand out: “First Dream,” “Aristotle,” and “On Turning Ten.” One in this set compares the rigidity of adulthood with the freedom of childhood. The others compare the hustle of the modern age with the idyllic view of ages past. But, the theme is the same: a comparison of times when the world was new and waiting to be discovered to the time we find ourselves in now.
In the poem “First Dream,” Billy Collins writes about a daydreaming experience in which he imagines how it must have been for the first person who ever dreamed. He sets the stage back in prehistoric times, during an age when the spoken language was limited to the guttural noises. In this poem, Collins describes the actions and feelings of the first dreamer in a wistful tone as though he wishes he might have been that first dreamer. The yearning tone is even further accented as Collins shifts the first dreamer’s identity to that of a woman. In this description he feels that any observer of this woman lost in contemplation “might have gone down as the first person / to ever fall in love with the sadness of another” (Billy Collins, “First Dream” 26-27). The wistful tone in this poem shows a desire for going back in time for a chance at discovering life at a time when all was new.
The poem “Aristotle,” takes us on a journey from beginning to end. On this journey he does not describe any specific events but rather the feeling of being at certain points along the journey. For him, the beginning of the journey is seen as an exciting time: “This is the beginning. / Almost anything can happen. / This is where you find / the creation of light, a fish wriggling onto land” (Collins, “Aristotle” I. 1-4). In the middle the journey seems to get tedious: “This is the middle. / Things have had time to get complicated, / messy really. Nothing is simple anymore” (II. 1-3). This stanza can be viewed as his outlook on today’s lifestyle. And, finally at the end the journey seems to have lasting effect: “This is the final bit / thinning away to nothing” (III. 16-17). This poem shows that beginnings have more meaning on Billy Collins. It is neither the destination nor the journey that intrigue him but the beginning. Again this shows a desire to go back to earlier, simpler times when there were an inexhaustible amount of choices to make in life without the tediousness of today’s societies.
In the poem “On Turning Ten,” Collins uses the personae of a young boy who should be celebrating his tenth birthday. However, the poem shows that this young boy is sad to his childhood slip away as he is growing older and closer to becoming an adult. In the poem the boy thinks to himself that “this is the beginning of sadness” (Collins, “On Turning Ten” 24). Throughout the poem he is listing all of the things that he remembers of his childhood and how he will never again play certain games or have dreams of being a wizard or cowboy. He knows that he can no longer do just anything that he wants and must begin to conform to what society will expect of him:
“It seems only yesterday I used to believe
there was nothing under my skin but light.
If you cut me I could shine.
But now when I fall upon the sidewalks of life,
I skin my knees. I bleed.” (29-33)
Earlier in the poem, Collins uses the boy to express more clearly his own feelings on the freedom of youth versus the rigidity of adulthood:
“You tell me it is too early to be looking back,
but that is because you have forgotten
the perfect simplicity of being one
and the beautiful complexity introduced by two.” (8-11)
So, yet again Collins expresses his nostalgia for a time of innocence when the world was new and ready to be discovered. Without asking Billy Collins, himself, it is difficult to sum up his beliefs on life. But as F. D. Reeve stated, “Through the poetry we reach some understanding of our own love, our own anguish, for the poetry is all we can ever really know” (Reeve 7).
There are many other poems I would have liked to have included in this paper as examples of Collins’ views on life. And, I hope that through my brief look at those I was able to include, that you, too, can see that Collins’ poems speak out against complicated, tedious lifestyles and rather cry out for a simple life where dreams can become more than mere dreams.
Works Cited
Billy Collins. 2002. Big Snap. Online. Internet. 13 October 2004. Available:
http://www.bigsnap.com/p-bc-31.html.
Collins, Billy. Picnic, Lightning. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press: 1998.
Collins, Billy. Questions About Angels: Poems. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh
Press, 1999.
Merin, Jeredith. “Art over Easy.” Southern Review. 38:1 (Winter 2002): 202-214.
MLA International Bibliography Database. EBSCOhost. 22 Oct. 2004.
Reeve, F.D. Inadequate Memory and the Adequate Imagination.” American Poetry
Review. 32:3 (May-June 2003): 11-13. MLA International Bibliography
Database. EBSCOhost. 22 Oct. 2004.
Reference:
- Billy Collins on the Internet at www.bigsnap.com/p-bc-31.html
