Monday, January 28, 2013
Keshav Sharma-Blog Post 1, 1073
In “Introduction to Poetry” by Billy Collins,
the author attempts to assert that although students should enjoy a piece of
poetry for what it is, they instead “[beat] it with a hose to find out what it
really means.” By claiming that students resort to such “barbaric” methods of
extracting meaning from a poem, they fail to figuratively “press an ear against
its hive” and understand the true meaning of the poem. Using kinesthetic
imagery such as “I want them to waterski across the surface of a poem,” Collins
starkly contrasts his own view on poetry with that of his students, “all they
want to do is tie the poem to a chair with rope.” Using solely colorful imagery
throughout the poem, Collins is able to demonstrate his disappointment with his
students and also resolve the paradox he establishes at the beginning. Although
not directly stated, one could infer from Collins’ tone throughout the text (being
disappointed in his students) that he believes his students are also
unchangeable.
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I would agree with your viewpoints on theintentions of Billy Collin's poem, but I dont believe there was enough context to view "them" as students, I feel that word could be very ambigious for we dont really know who them is. After readin the poem I felt that "them" was myself.
ReplyDeleteKeshav Sharma, I agree is correct in assuming that “them” in the “Introduction to Poetry” are students. Merriam Webster online dictionary defines student as “a person who attends a school, college, or university OR a person who studies something.” From this, I can also affirm that “them” stands for students.
DeleteI agree with Keshav's analysis of Billy Collins' poem "Introduction to Poetry". A majority of the people reading poetry don't particularly like it because they can't understand it. They try to hard to come to an ultimate conclusion and with such a mindset they sometimes disregard the authors intent. I do also agree with Joe Rota that the "them" also pertained to myself.
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