Many things have had a large influenced Collins’ poetry. Religious faith has a particularly large impact. Billy grew up in a highly religious Irish Catholic family, and was taught how to live a good Christian life. Collins, however, is not as deeply religious as his parents, but still continues to be Catholic for the sake of continuity, and respect toward his parents (Press). Many of Collins’ poems center around the ideas of religion; in fact, his book “The Afterlife” is dedicated solely to religious themes. Jazz has also influenced Billy Collins’ poetry. He grew up listening to jazz, and many of his poems are about his love for this music (Mazin). The works of other poets have also influenced Collins’ writing. Although he certainly has his own unique style of writing, the influence of Elizabethan metaphysical poetry is evident Collins particularly admires the works of George Herbert and John Donne (Billy Collins). George Herbert uses homely and every-day images in his poetry as does Collins. He also, as Lawrence Lipnok states in Norton’s Anthology of English Literature, uses religious themes such as the importance of faith. Unlike Collins, however, George Herbert strictly follows traditional poetic forms (Lipnok 1180). Collins on the other hand uses free verse and follows no structural form in his poetry. Religious themes are also seen in John Donne’s work, who was a Roman Catholic as is Collins. Donne too uses imagery drawn from daily life and employs a less formal and more colloquial style of writing (Lipnok 1255). Their work differs in that Donne’s poetry is very intellectually difficult, while Collins’ is easily understood and very accessible to the average person.
Throughout his life, Billy Collins has written many poems and many very successful poetry books. His first book, Poker Face, was written in 1977 followed by Video Poems written in 1980. Both of these books were quite successful, putting Billy on the map as a commendable poet (Mazin). During the beginning of his career he experimented with many different styles of poetry. In fact, his first poems were emotionally deep and lacking humor. It was not until his mid forties that he developed the unique style of poetry for which he is now so well known (Press). Collins has had no one major success but rather all of his books have come together to make him very successful, each with their own contribution to his popularity. His first books, for example, were not as successful as his more recent ones, if it weren’t for them, he would have never made a name for himself thus his more recent books would not have been close to as successful as they were (Mazin). Through out his career, Collins has achieved many awards and honors. Arguably his most outstanding achievement was being crowned the forty-first Poet Laureate of the US, a very prestigious and honorable position that only the most skillful of poets can achieve. He has also received a variety of other awards including the Oscar Blumenthal Prize, the Bess Hokin Prize, and the Levinson Prize. He was also named Best American Poet in 1992 and 1993, and has been given a fellowship from the New York Foundation for the arts. Along with being praised by awards, Collins is also highly respected and admired by his contemporaries as an excellent and highly skilled poet. Collins’ poetry has had great impacts on others; his new and unique style of humorous and accessible poetry has inspired many other poets to adapt this style. As well as having impacts on other poets, he also has had a very large impact on the society. Collins has made one of his major goals as a poet to make poetry more accessible to the normal person. One way he is fulfilling this goal is through a program he has developed called Project 180 (Billy Collins). This project is aimed at raising the popularity and interest of poetry among middle and high school students. This program consists of a list of 180 poems that would be of interest and appeal to the students, as well as a guide to show the teachers how to teach poetry in a way that is fun yet effective.
One of my favorite poems is Another Reason why I don’t Keep a Gun in the House. The poem begins with the author sitting in his house, he can hear his neighbors dog barking on and on in the background. The dog is a nuisance to the narrator very much, so he closes all the windows and turns on a Beethoven symphony. Despite blasting the music, he can still hear the dog’s constant barks. While lying down he begins to put the dogs barking into the music, he imagines that the dogs barking is actually written into the music, then he paints a picture of the orchestra in his mind, and pictures the dog as one of the musicians. This poem shows Collins’ accessibility to the average reader. Every middle-class suburbanite has at one time or another been annoyed by a barking dog. It is a very simple poem that anyone could understand. It also shows Collins’ good humor and general benevolent take on life.
Another interesting poem by Collins is “On Turning Ten”. The poem is about the thoughts of a little boy on his tenth birthday. He thinks about how he has to grow up now that he has become ten. He realizes that he has to leave behind the world of make-believe and deal with more of life’s difficult realities. This poem is on its surface quite easy to understand and appreciate. We have all shared the experience of growing up and putting aside childish things, but as is often the case with Collins’ poetry, there is a deeper level of meaning that a more thoughtful reading reveals. Collins is also talking about our mortality and the inevitability of death:
…I used to believe there was nothing under my skin but light If you cut me I could shine. But now when I fall…I bleed.
Billy Collins, “On Turning Ten”
Another good poem by Billy Collins is “Nightclub”. In this poem, Collins is listening to a jazz song on the familiar romantic theme of beauty, foolishness, and love. He imagines he is in a jazz club watching all the “beautiful fools gathered around little tables.” He plays in his mind with the relationship between beauty and foolishness as a jazz musician would play variations on a theme of music. He comes to the conclusion that we are all fools for not seeing our own beauty. This poem shows Collins’ love of music and familiarity with jazz. It can also be appreciated on two different levels. You can enjoy the dreamy description of a jazz club, but also the deeper discussion on the topic of beauty.
Despite his upbringing in a middle class home, and his poor education as a child, Collins has become a very well known and highly respected poet, whose middle class backgrounds have had a large influence on his poetry, as well as his goal to make poetry more accessible to the average reader. Collins has had a very successful career, publishing several poetry books and being the Poet Laureate of the U.S. from 2001-2003.
Collins has a very unique style of poetry that has appeal to both the average person, being both easy to read and humorous to the normal person, and the more sophisticated reader by having a deeper more complex meanings.
