Introduction to Poetry

BY BILLY COLLINS

I ask them to take a poem

and hold it up to the light

like a color slide

or press an ear against its hive.

I say drop a mouse into a poem

and watch him probe his way out,

or walk inside the poem’s room

and feel the walls for a light switch.

I want them to waterski

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.

They begin beating it with a hose

to find out what it really means.

INTRODUCTION TO POETRY BY BILLY COLLINS

Questions HOTS and LOTS

Name.......................................

1. Who is the speaker in this poem?

2. What do the students in the poem want to do?

3. List two metaphors described in the poem.

4. What is the main message of the poem?

5. Why do you think the poem is called "Introduction to Poetry"? Support your answer with information from the text.

6. The speaker states " But all they want to do is tie the poem to a chair with a rope". Explain.

7. Do you think that Billy Collins would be pleased that his poem is being analyzed in classrooms?

Use a thinking skill : Inferring or Explaining Cause and Effect.

"I think one of the worries that sometimes destroys the spirit of poetry....is students' uncertainty about how to approach a poem and how to deal with difficulty in poetry." - from an interview with Billy Collins

Relate this quote to the poem Intoduction to Poetry. Support your answer with examples from the poem.

Slide Questions