Poem Analysis: Introduction To Poetry By Billy Collins

The first thing that drew me toward this poem was its basic title: Introduction to Poetry. It’s ironic that there is a poem about reading other poems. Further reading showed me that Billy Collins was sending the message that people should not over analyze poems but take them open-mindedly. Additionally, Billy Collins use odd but imaginative comparison on how to read poetry. For example, in line 3, he says to hold the poem up like a color slide. But I think the main point of this poem is the fact that we should never over analyze everything we see and always seek answers. I think this is actually present in many different aspects of people’s lives. One thing that many people like to over-analyze is a tragedy or coincidence. One example is the
hurricane Katrina. Many people tried to over analyze the meaning of such an awful event and mainly went through religious answers. Some say it was because their god was angry or that this was a clean slate god created for his children. But some will take it for face value and say that a hurricane was just a hurricane and people will need to adjust to the problem. Though poems might have some deeper meaning that others might seek, it seems that reading and interpreting what it states is usually the best way for a beginner to approach poetry.