Litany

“Litany” is a free verse poem by former American poet laureate Billy Collins. It was originally published in 2002 in his ninth collection Nine Horses. “Litany” opens with a couplet borrowed from another poem, using it to satirize traditional love poetry through humor and accessible and colloquial language to create a picture of honest, candid love in the modern age.

Poet Biography

Billy Collins is a celebrated American poet known for his approachable, conversational style. He is one of the best-loved poets in the American literary canon, consistently selling out reading tours worldwide. His work balances candid humor with poignancy and heartfelt exploration of being alive. He is credited with changing the landscape of poetry publication and the relationship between poetry and modern readers.

Collins was born in Manhattan, New York, in 1941. He studied the poetry of the Romantic era at the University of California; his own work, however, draws greater influence from poets of the Beat Generation, as well as contemporary voices such as Karl Shapiro and Reed Whittemore. Passionate about supporting emerging poets, Collins he became co-founder of the Mid-Atlantic Review in 1975. In the 1990s, Collins created an industry stir when he received a six-figure advance from Random House publishing, a move then-unheard of by the poetry world. Collins served as American Poet Laureate from 2001 to 2003, and New York Poet Laureate from 2004 to 2006. In 2012, he became Poetry Consultant for Smithsonian Magazine. His full-length collections include, among others, Questions about Angels (1991), and The Art of Drowning (1995), The Trouble with Poetry (2005), and The Rain in Portugal (2016).

He is currently an editor for The Alaska Quarterly Review. He has taught at higher education institutions including Sarah Lawrence College, Columbia University, and the State University of New York. He teaches workshops to aspiring poets all over the world, including an online webinar series through the Masterclass platform. Collins also regularly partners with musicians and other performers across the globe.

Collins was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 2016. He was awarded Poetry magazine’s “Poet of the Year” (1994), the Mark Twain Award for Humor in Poetry (2005), and the Peggy V. Helmerich Distinguished Author Award (2016), among other accolades.

Poem Text

Collins, Billy. “Litany.” 2002. Poetry Foundation.

Summary

Jumping off a borrowed opening phrase from another poem, the speaker addresses a beloved with a series of metaphors, which compare the beloved to bread and wine, morning dew, a burning sun, a white apron and birds in flight.

The speaker then turns their attention to comparisons which highlight what their subject is not: the wind in the trees, fruit or a construction of playing cards, the perfumed air—the speaker is particularly adamant about this. The speaker’s comparisons now lose their romantic associations, becoming humorous and grounded in the world: The beloved is like a fish or a city pigeon, but has nothing in common whatsoever with a twilit cornfield. Their beloved is also a far cry from discarded boots or a resting boat.

The speaker next turns their exploration inward, describing themself to their beloved in metaphors that are comical and unexpected. The speaker is a star, an abandoned newspaper, chestnuts, moonlight, and a teacup—but “not the bread and the knife” (Line 27); that distinction is held only by their beloved, who will retain that title forever.