Poetry

Introduction to Poetry- by Billy Collins
Analysis and Interpretation

The subject of the poem Introduction to Literature is how to read/teach a poem. The two opinions presented are the opinion ofthe poet/ speaker who describes how he would like readers to read the poem; and the opinion of the readers/ students who want to find out as quickly as possible what the poem means.
In the poem, thepoet/ speaker asks the readers to take the poem and look at it closely. He compares the poem to a color slide, implying that when we hold it up to the light, we can see the images more clearly. In thesame way, the poem has "color', or meaning, but we must look closely to see it. He asks the students to listen to the poem carefully as though listening to the activity of a beehive. The poem hassound as well as color.
In lines 5-6, the poet compares the poem to a maze. The reader must use different interpretations to find his way through the poem, like a mouse probing his way out of a maze.Then the poet suggests another way to capture the meaning of the poem. He asks the students to explore the poem with all their senses, as they would explore a dark room looking for the light switch. Heimplies that when they find the switch, they will 'see the light", or understand the message the poem.
In lines 9-11, the students are asked to "play" with the poem acknowledging the poet but notletting him dictate his ideas ("waving at the author's name on the shore"), the poet claims that the students attack the poem as though it is intentionally keeping the message from them. He says thatthey should not panic if they don't immediately understand the message. Instead of reading the poem with creative insight, the students beat it "with a hose" for the message, which it would give themonly treated it more gently. The speaker feels that students usually attack the poem and immediately begin to analyze it. They become frustrated when they don't get the meaning immediately and try to...