33 pages • 1 hour read
Introduction to Poetry
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Further Reading & Resources
Related Poems
"Advice to Writers" by Billy Collins (1988)
The University of Arkansas Press published Collins’s first true collection of poems, The Apple That Astonished Paris, in 1988. “Introduction to Poetry” appears in this collection alongside “Advice to Writers”: a poem in which Collins continues his exploration of what it means to be a creative. “Advice to Writers” grapples with the fear of the blank page, and unpacks how the cleanliness (or lack thereof) of a writer’s physical space impacts their ability to be creative. “Advice to Writers” utilizes the same playful metaphors and humor that “Introduction to Poetry” does, leading readers to an unexpectedly deep conclusion about the theme of writing.
"Budapest" by Billy Collins (2001)
“Budapest” made its first appearance in Sailing Around the Room: New and Selected Poems, a collection published by Penguin Random House in 2001. “Budapest” uses the same hyper-specific imagery and nuanced figurative language that “Introduction to Poetry” does, personifying the poet’s pen to discuss the construction of poetry from the perspective of the writer. Collins again transforms the poem into something bigger than the words on the page, transporting readers to places they have never been through the power of language.
“Budapest,” along with several other Billy Collins poems, were turned into short, animated films in collaboration with the Sundance Channel in 2012. Billy Collins narrates his poem, Budapest, bringing even more life to the piece in this collaboration.
"Writing in the Afterlife" by Billy Collins (1991)
“Writing in the Afterlife” acts as an antithesis to poems like “Introduction to Poetry” and “Advice to Writers,” appearing first in Poetry Magazine, and later in Collins’s own collections Questions about Angels (1991) and Sailing Around the Room: New and Selected Poems (2001).
“Writing in the Afterlife” explores the less glamorous side of the writing process: the laborious slog of writing, rewriting, revising, and inevitably deleting sentence after sentence of work until a poem reaches perfection. The entirety of this poem carries the same tone of darkness that is found in the final two stanzas of “Introduction to Poetry.”
Further Literary Resources
"Billy Collins, The Art of Poetry No. 83" Interviewed by George Plimpton for The Paris Review (2001)
Founding editor of The Paris Review, George Plimpton, in conversation with Billy Collins, breaks down Collins’s writing process from first lines through to revision. This interview acts as an extended dialogue to “Introduction to Poetry,” and gives readers an intimate look into Collins’s personal life and opinions through his own distinct voice.
"The Death of the Author" by Roland Barthes (1967)
“The Death of the Author,” or “La Mort de L’Auteur” in the original French, is an essay by French literary theorist and critic Roland Barthes. “The Death of the Author” inspired Collins’s own perspectives on literary analysis as well as his methods of teaching in the classroom, informing the pedagogy laid out in “Introduction to Poetry.”
In this essay, Barthes argues against any type of literary analysis that relies on aspects of the author’s identity, and he refutes the idea that the author’s own experiences and biases should be used to extract meaning from their work. Collins, inspired by Barthes, agrees that if readers interpret a text through the lens of its author alone, then the multiplicity of meanings that that text holds become limited to one.
This essay serves as a good example of Collins’s academic interests in connection to poetry as both an area of study and complex art form.
"Crossing Brooklyn Ferry" by Walt Whitman (1856)
Walt Whitman’s (1819-1892) famous, extended work of poetry, “Crossing Brooklyn Ferry,” is an excellent example of one of the many poetic voices that influenced Billy Collins early on in his career. The poem itself is about a man making the journey home after a long day of work in the city on the Brooklyn ferry. The poem makes simple, yet deeply insightful claims about the human experience, and exemplifies the genesis of Collins’s observational, everyday writing interests.
In his own MasterClass course, Collins cites Whitman as the poet he learned intimacy from, stating that in “Crossing Brooklyn Ferry”: “you can almost feel his [Whitman’s] arm on your shoulder. He’s pointing to the seagulls and the water. As I was here, you will stand here” (Collins Finding Your Voice: Influences). Collins believes that the individual poetic voice forms through reading and interacting with other poets, and Whitman is an excellent poet to study in order to understand Collins more thoroughly.
Listen to Poem
American poet Billy Collins gives voice to his 1988 poem “Introduction to Poetry.”
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By Billy Collins
