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Blake Dean
Dr. Kerri Allen
English 1102-09
11 March 2015
Introduction to Poetry: Time and Effort
In Introduction to Poetry, Billy Collins tells how some readers try to interpret a poem.
Collins describes the tendency readers have to attempt to manipulate the meaning of a poem.
Also, Collins shares his opinion on how a poem should be read and understood. Through this
poem, Collins uses personification to show how readers attempt to torture a meaning out of a
poem instead of taking time to understand the poem. To communicate that a poem takes effort to
be understood, Collins uses a metaphor. The author also uses a metaphor to show how a poem is
a living thing that has something to say to the reader. In Introduction to Poetry, Collins
emphasizes the importance of the reader taking time, listening to the poem and putting forth
effort in order to interpret a poem accurately.
Collins uses personification in several ways; for example, Collins uses it to describe how
some readers try to understand poetry. Collins further describes a reader treating a poem
violently to get his point across: But all they want to do/is tie the poem to a chair with rope/and
torture a confession out of it. (12-14). This quote shows how some readers try to interpret
poetry through mental hostility. The reader attempts to force an interpretation out of a poem by
refusing to listen to what the poem has to say. Collins is trying to show that some readers will
not take time to understand the work; they simply expect the meaning to be clear from the
beginning. The reader refuses to take the poem for what it really is, but tries to force it into
being something more complex. Another example of personification is when Collins states,

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They begin beating it with a hose/to find out what it really means (15-16). Poetry is best
understood by taking the time to comprehend each aspect. When a reader beats it with a hose,
he is not taking time to let the poem communicate what it was created to communicate. The
meaning of a poem will never be realized through mental hostility. Through these examples of
personification, Collins shows that hostility and impatience are not the way that poetry should be
read.
In his poem, Collins uses a metaphor to show that understanding a poem requires effort.
This metaphor also shows that readers should submerse themselves in the poem they are reading.
For example, Collins says, I say drop a mouse into a poem and watch him probe his way out
(5-6). The mouse represents the reader, and the poem is shown as a maze. Collins
communicates the idea that a poem is not something that is simple to understand but something
that requires effort and attention. This also shows that it may take more than one attempt to fully
grasp what the author is trying to say through a poem, much like it takes more than one attempt
to complete a maze. Collins implies that a poem is a maze to show that a poem cannot be
understood through an apathetic reading but through a focused and intentional reading. The
comparison of a poem to a maze also communicates that to interpret a poem the reader must
become a part of the poem. Collins says, Or walk inside the poems room and feel the walls for
a light switch (8-9). Collins uses the dark room to show in which a reader needs to explore the
poem that he has submersed himself. With these two metaphors, Collins emphasizes the effort
that the reader must put into interpreting a poem.
Collins uses another metaphor to describe a poem as a living thing, comparing a poem to
a beehive when he states, or press an ear against its hive (4). By comparing a poem to a
beehive, Collins is implying that a poem is a living thing that has something to tell its readers.

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Therefore, as the reader analyzes the poem he should be willing to hear what the poem is saying
instead of what he wants it to say. When studying a poem, readers should not attempt to force a
poem to have a predetermined meaning but to be open to understand the meaning that the poem
communicates. Much like a hive has many bees working toward the same goal, a poem has
many different elements working toward the same goal. Within a poem there are many different
literary devices, examples and images that all assist in portraying the emotion or story. Collins is
saying that the reader should be aware of these different elements when analyzing poetry.Using
the metaphor of a beehive, Collins shows that a poem should be listened to and studied with the
awareness of the different elements.
Introduction to Poetry states that to fully understand poetry, the reader must be willing
to put in the effort and take the time to interpret the work. Collins uses personification to show
how some readers try demanding a meaning instead of being willing to hear. Collins
communicates that poetry is understood through patience and time by giving the poem human
qualities. Using a metaphor, Collins shows how interpreting a poem takes effort. He uses the
mouse in a maze to show how reading a poem should be a process and how readers should
submerse themselves into it. The maze also represents the challenge of interpreting poetry, and
how it may require more than one attempt to completely grasp what the author is saying. Collins
compares a poem to a beehive to show that a poem is a living thing that has something to say to
its readers. The beehive comparison also shows how there are many different parts of a poem
working together to communicate an emotion. In his poem, Collins claims that understanding
poetry is not a swift venture. Poetry requires both time and effort to be understood accurately,
and poems are living things that should be listened to.

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