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The Trouble with Poetry: And Other Poems
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Manufacturer: Random House Trade Paperbacks
Author: Billy Collins
Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks
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Our Price: $11.16
You Save: $ 2.79 ( 20% )
Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Random House Trade Paperbacks
Author: Billy Collins
Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks
Average Customer Rating:
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The Trouble with Poetry: And Other Poems Description
Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 811.54
EAN: 9780375755217
ISBN: 0375755217
Label: Random House Trade Paperbacks
Manufacturer: Random House Trade Paperbacks
Number Of Items: 1
Book Pages: 112
Publication Date: 2007-03-13
Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks
Product Release Date: 2007-03-13
Studio: Random House Trade Paperbacks
Dewey Decimal Number: 811.54
EAN: 9780375755217
ISBN: 0375755217
Label: Random House Trade Paperbacks
Manufacturer: Random House Trade Paperbacks
Number Of Items: 1
Book Pages: 112
Publication Date: 2007-03-13
Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks
Product Release Date: 2007-03-13
Studio: Random House Trade Paperbacks
Editorial Review of The Trouble with Poetry: And Other Poems
Playfulness, spare elegance, and wit epitomize the poetry of Billy Collins. With his distinct voice and accessible language, America’s two-term Poet Laureate has opened the door to poetry for countless people for whom it might otherwise remain closed.
Like the present book’s title, Collins’s poems are filled with mischief, humor, and irony, “Poetry speaks to all people, it is said, but here I would like to address / only those in my own time zone”–but also with quiet observation, intense wonder, and a reverence for the everyday: “The birds are in their trees, / the toast is in the toaster, / and the poets are at their windows. / They are at their windows in every section of the tangerine of earth–the Chinese poets looking up at the moon, / the American poets gazing out / at the pink and blue ribbons of sunrise.”
Through simple language, Collins shows that good poetry doesn’t have to be obscure or incomprehensible, qualities that are perhaps the real trouble with most “serious” poetry: “By now, it should go without saying / that what the oven is to the baker / and the berry-stained blouse to the drycleaner / so the window is to the poet.”
In this dazzling new collection, his first in three years, Collins explores boyhood, jazz, love, the passage of time, and, of course, writing–themes familiar to Collins’s fans but made new here. Gorgeous, funny, and deeply empathetic, Billy Collins’s poetry is a window through which we see our lives as if for the first time.
From the Hardcover edition.
Like the present book’s title, Collins’s poems are filled with mischief, humor, and irony, “Poetry speaks to all people, it is said, but here I would like to address / only those in my own time zone”–but also with quiet observation, intense wonder, and a reverence for the everyday: “The birds are in their trees, / the toast is in the toaster, / and the poets are at their windows. / They are at their windows in every section of the tangerine of earth–the Chinese poets looking up at the moon, / the American poets gazing out / at the pink and blue ribbons of sunrise.”
Through simple language, Collins shows that good poetry doesn’t have to be obscure or incomprehensible, qualities that are perhaps the real trouble with most “serious” poetry: “By now, it should go without saying / that what the oven is to the baker / and the berry-stained blouse to the drycleaner / so the window is to the poet.”
In this dazzling new collection, his first in three years, Collins explores boyhood, jazz, love, the passage of time, and, of course, writing–themes familiar to Collins’s fans but made new here. Gorgeous, funny, and deeply empathetic, Billy Collins’s poetry is a window through which we see our lives as if for the first time.
From the Hardcover edition.
Customer Reviews of The Trouble with Poetry: And Other Poems
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Collins Makes Poetry Fun
Review: Billy Collins has such a quirky sense of humor and he's a master of rhythm. I teach creative writing and, whenever a student thinks they don't like poetry, I pull out this collection and share a poem or two. Collins makes poetry accessible and enjoyable without dumbing it down. Yippee!
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: There's No Trouble With THIS Poetry
Review: No trouble at all. Billy Collins is one of the most accesible modern american poets. He makes poetry seem easy to do, so much so, that I bet most of his readers feel encouraged to try. I've bought many of his other books, (The Art of Drowning, Questions About Angels, Picnic, Lightning, Sailing Around The Room) and I always feel like I'm inviting an old friend over. His imagery is taken from the everyday life, that's why we feel so close to his writings. He is an American Poet Laureate, that doesn't take himself too seriously, another clue as to why he's so popular. I encourage everybody to read his work aloud, among friends, sharing a bottle of Merlot.
José A. Peláez, artist, writer.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Few Troubles Here
Review: I am a great admirer of Mr. Collins. His ability to write very personal poems that still manage to draw in the reader and be accessible is amazing. Plus, he has the great ability to use simple language to create powerful images. He uses this ability right at the opening of this volume in the wonderful lead poem, "You, Reader.": "I wonder how you are going to feel/when you find out/that I wrote this poem instead of you,//that it was I who got up early/to sit in the kitchen/and mention with a pen//the rain soaked windows,..."
There are a number of excellent verses in this book. Among the best are "Traveling Alone," "I Ask You," "Breathless," "The Introduction," and the title poem, "The Trouble with Poetry." But my favorite one in this collection is "The Lanyard." In this one, the poet comes across the word "lanyard" while browsing in the dictionary and this takes him back to when he made a lanyard for his mother at summer camp. This takes him to the heart of the poem, where the poet considers a boy's unequal relationship with his mother-- "She gave me life and milk from her breasts,/and I gave her a lanyard." He goes on in this incisive vein for awhile before finishing with an adult's understanding of a boy's foolishness. Not "that you can never repay your mother" but that, as a boy, he was sure the lanyard "would be enough to make us even." This is an insightful, moving poem.
Of course, when you deal with simple language and images, as Collins does, when you miss, you miss hard. There are plenty of poems in this book that don't do much for me but Collins remains consistent in his style which makes them easy enough to get through. I have yet to read a volume of poetry that hits the mark 100% of the time. Still, Collins hits the mark often enough to make me wait impatiently for each new collection.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: A Snap Shot of What is Passsing
Review: Your Chance to Hear The Last Panther Speak
The first book I bought by Billy Collins was "Sailing Alone Around The Room." I also have to say, that I believe Billy Collins work is not only an acquired taste, but something you have to really actually read, and then read slowly again. Having viewed some of the negative comments here I can only think perhaps where it seems he is not all that shocking in his writes, that perhaps they might think mine are too much so. But this is where it get's into style and I believe he is still true to form in "The Trouble With Poetry." One in particular that stands out to me is 'Statues in the Park'... I'd heard about what he is speaking of before, being prior military and what I got from it was not only that he was teaching, (Those perhaps that have no clue), but also sharing that from his vantage point, some things will never change. There's a symbolism there entailing the whole of life and how quite frankly, people walk by such symbolism not only not knowing, but also not caring that it represent a story to the educated eye.
Here he is not only sharing that, but also sharing with his last lines in this poem how he feels about the unnecessary pains in life, how many deaths are not even worthy of a symbol representing them in so many eyes, and how much he appreciates his own life...
down on my knees, eyes lifted
praying to the passing clouds
forever begging for just one more day.
I'm keying on this one poem because I think it best represents the whole of what I am trying to relate. We live in a world now, where if it bleeds, it leads. Not that death hasn't occurred through out the known history of the world, but I think there was a time when it wasn't as common in some periods in history, and when it was spoken of, it was done so in a manner that was more subtle. Although no less painful to those affected by it. Now days if it isn't particularly gruesome it doesn't rate giving it your attention unless it personally applies to your life. The other one in particular that got me was the beginning poem "You, Reader" because I just happened to be leaning at my rear garage door way, having a smoke, when I was reading it, minus blue hydrangeas...
I titled this a snap shot of what is passing because I imagine I am old enough to remember both in a way. When things were shared solemnly and with patience, and the present where it's just spit it out and without much concern on how those are going to digest what they've just had to learn about.
Pretty soon there won't be, what some consider nice, quaint and boring but thoughtful and yes caring expressions of thoughts at all, it will all be shocking and barbaric or not worth hearing... Which leads me to believe, the un acceptance of that, is the disregard as well for genuine humanness.
I rate this a ten because in addition to sharing works on a variety of other subjects (Although I can only on Amazon post a five), there's a gentleness that comes through in his writing, and a connectedness with the actual world that I believe needs to be retained.
Billy with his work, is a reminder to all of us, and poets who feel more than most in general, what it means to really be human beings... And that in this case means, say the harshest things that occur in life, gently... At least some times...
(I tend to be pretty blunt, but I admire the tact he has mastered, and have to genuinely feel, that it is simply how he is as a man).
Chase von
tlp
The Last Panther
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Makes Me Want More....
Review: I can not help but fall in love with a poet who greets me from the very first words he writes. Billy Collins, Poet Laureate of the United States, does exactly that in his opening poem in this collection, a masterful collection of words entitled, "You. Reader."
While in a later poem, Collins writes "poets are at their windows" I feel as if, in this opening poem and throughout the book, Collins has opened his window and invited me to sit in a front row seat.
I deeply enjoyed "The Flying Notebook" as it circled my head and I know MY notebook certainly must fly around the room (and other places, for that matter, too!) I loved reading about Collins soaking in a tub, contemplating the alphabet.
He is so human, like me: reader.
The poem that is the title of this compilation "The Trouble with Poetry" made me laugh and nod my head in agreement. The greatest trouble is when we experience great poetry like this, we simply want to write more and more and more, too.
What a fine companion Billy Collins is to any poet or writer. That's what this book feels like - a writing companion, a life companion.
Highly recommended.
Review Summary: Collins Makes Poetry Fun
Review: Billy Collins has such a quirky sense of humor and he's a master of rhythm. I teach creative writing and, whenever a student thinks they don't like poetry, I pull out this collection and share a poem or two. Collins makes poetry accessible and enjoyable without dumbing it down. Yippee!
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: There's No Trouble With THIS Poetry
Review: No trouble at all. Billy Collins is one of the most accesible modern american poets. He makes poetry seem easy to do, so much so, that I bet most of his readers feel encouraged to try. I've bought many of his other books, (The Art of Drowning, Questions About Angels, Picnic, Lightning, Sailing Around The Room) and I always feel like I'm inviting an old friend over. His imagery is taken from the everyday life, that's why we feel so close to his writings. He is an American Poet Laureate, that doesn't take himself too seriously, another clue as to why he's so popular. I encourage everybody to read his work aloud, among friends, sharing a bottle of Merlot.
José A. Peláez, artist, writer.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Few Troubles Here
Review: I am a great admirer of Mr. Collins. His ability to write very personal poems that still manage to draw in the reader and be accessible is amazing. Plus, he has the great ability to use simple language to create powerful images. He uses this ability right at the opening of this volume in the wonderful lead poem, "You, Reader.": "I wonder how you are going to feel/when you find out/that I wrote this poem instead of you,//that it was I who got up early/to sit in the kitchen/and mention with a pen//the rain soaked windows,..."
There are a number of excellent verses in this book. Among the best are "Traveling Alone," "I Ask You," "Breathless," "The Introduction," and the title poem, "The Trouble with Poetry." But my favorite one in this collection is "The Lanyard." In this one, the poet comes across the word "lanyard" while browsing in the dictionary and this takes him back to when he made a lanyard for his mother at summer camp. This takes him to the heart of the poem, where the poet considers a boy's unequal relationship with his mother-- "She gave me life and milk from her breasts,/and I gave her a lanyard." He goes on in this incisive vein for awhile before finishing with an adult's understanding of a boy's foolishness. Not "that you can never repay your mother" but that, as a boy, he was sure the lanyard "would be enough to make us even." This is an insightful, moving poem.
Of course, when you deal with simple language and images, as Collins does, when you miss, you miss hard. There are plenty of poems in this book that don't do much for me but Collins remains consistent in his style which makes them easy enough to get through. I have yet to read a volume of poetry that hits the mark 100% of the time. Still, Collins hits the mark often enough to make me wait impatiently for each new collection.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: A Snap Shot of What is Passsing
Review: Your Chance to Hear The Last Panther Speak
The first book I bought by Billy Collins was "Sailing Alone Around The Room." I also have to say, that I believe Billy Collins work is not only an acquired taste, but something you have to really actually read, and then read slowly again. Having viewed some of the negative comments here I can only think perhaps where it seems he is not all that shocking in his writes, that perhaps they might think mine are too much so. But this is where it get's into style and I believe he is still true to form in "The Trouble With Poetry." One in particular that stands out to me is 'Statues in the Park'... I'd heard about what he is speaking of before, being prior military and what I got from it was not only that he was teaching, (Those perhaps that have no clue), but also sharing that from his vantage point, some things will never change. There's a symbolism there entailing the whole of life and how quite frankly, people walk by such symbolism not only not knowing, but also not caring that it represent a story to the educated eye.
Here he is not only sharing that, but also sharing with his last lines in this poem how he feels about the unnecessary pains in life, how many deaths are not even worthy of a symbol representing them in so many eyes, and how much he appreciates his own life...
down on my knees, eyes lifted
praying to the passing clouds
forever begging for just one more day.
I'm keying on this one poem because I think it best represents the whole of what I am trying to relate. We live in a world now, where if it bleeds, it leads. Not that death hasn't occurred through out the known history of the world, but I think there was a time when it wasn't as common in some periods in history, and when it was spoken of, it was done so in a manner that was more subtle. Although no less painful to those affected by it. Now days if it isn't particularly gruesome it doesn't rate giving it your attention unless it personally applies to your life. The other one in particular that got me was the beginning poem "You, Reader" because I just happened to be leaning at my rear garage door way, having a smoke, when I was reading it, minus blue hydrangeas...
I titled this a snap shot of what is passing because I imagine I am old enough to remember both in a way. When things were shared solemnly and with patience, and the present where it's just spit it out and without much concern on how those are going to digest what they've just had to learn about.
Pretty soon there won't be, what some consider nice, quaint and boring but thoughtful and yes caring expressions of thoughts at all, it will all be shocking and barbaric or not worth hearing... Which leads me to believe, the un acceptance of that, is the disregard as well for genuine humanness.
I rate this a ten because in addition to sharing works on a variety of other subjects (Although I can only on Amazon post a five), there's a gentleness that comes through in his writing, and a connectedness with the actual world that I believe needs to be retained.
Billy with his work, is a reminder to all of us, and poets who feel more than most in general, what it means to really be human beings... And that in this case means, say the harshest things that occur in life, gently... At least some times...
(I tend to be pretty blunt, but I admire the tact he has mastered, and have to genuinely feel, that it is simply how he is as a man).
Chase von
tlp
The Last Panther
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Makes Me Want More....
Review: I can not help but fall in love with a poet who greets me from the very first words he writes. Billy Collins, Poet Laureate of the United States, does exactly that in his opening poem in this collection, a masterful collection of words entitled, "You. Reader."
While in a later poem, Collins writes "poets are at their windows" I feel as if, in this opening poem and throughout the book, Collins has opened his window and invited me to sit in a front row seat.
I deeply enjoyed "The Flying Notebook" as it circled my head and I know MY notebook certainly must fly around the room (and other places, for that matter, too!) I loved reading about Collins soaking in a tub, contemplating the alphabet.
He is so human, like me: reader.
The poem that is the title of this compilation "The Trouble with Poetry" made me laugh and nod my head in agreement. The greatest trouble is when we experience great poetry like this, we simply want to write more and more and more, too.
What a fine companion Billy Collins is to any poet or writer. That's what this book feels like - a writing companion, a life companion.
Highly recommended.