Topic > The Conflict of Poets' Frustration in Introduction to Poetry, a Poem by Billy Collins

Billy Collin's poem, Introduction to Poetry, dramatizes the conflict of poets' frustration when their work is overanalyzed instead of appreciated. More specifically, the narrator of this poem highlights the author's intent to provide open-ended messages when writing poetry while the audience fails to adequately appreciate the poem, instead seeing it as an intellectual burden. This struggle is shown by the shocking personifications and images in the final two stanzas of “[tying] the poem to a chair with a rope / and [torturing] a confession… and [torturing] a confession.” These highly charged descriptions show how disappointed poets become when they realize that their poetry urges student readers to understand the poems rather than taking time to enjoy the poems. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The first and second stanzas provide sensory imagery to reflect the variety of poetry in the world. Using visual imagery to notice students “holding [poems] against the light/like a colored slide” or auditory imagery such as “[pressing] an ear against its hive,” the personality of the poem illustrates how subjective poems can be. Just as there are millions of colors, there are millions of interpretations for poems and one should be excited about all these possibilities instead of tiring to find “the one true meaning.” This painful but futile search for the supposedly true meaning prescribed by the literati is further delineated by comparing readers' analyzes to "[dropping a mouse] and watching it probe its way out." This metaphor effectively explains how readers get lost when they examine the poem. Currently, the poem is a labyrinth for many readers, which can be great for rereading and trying new options to discover new interpretations like "[feeling] the walls for a light switch", but should also be avoided due to the confusion that the public doesn't like it. The particular use of “switch” highlights how poems can change meaning and expose new details the more times they are read. The poem's character directly states their purpose for the poem "[wanting] [readers] to waterski across the surface of a poem." The diction of “waterskiing” demonstrates how the audience should appreciate the poem for what it is, on the surface like a wave and below the surface like the ocean, but not systematically dive deep into the ocean right away. Readers should first wade into the waves for a while and first fully absorb the beauty of the poem and then indulge in the fun of individualistic analysis, as evidenced by the comparison to the thrilling sport of water skiing. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper now from our expert writers. Get a Custom Essay Poetry finally features unique structural features such as multiple short stanzas and free verse. The lack of rigid organization or adherence to a rhyme scheme can imply the freedom that poets want to express in their works, that each poem can have multiple meanings and should not be reduced to one particular analysis, unlike how some teachers or professors would force students to “dig deeper” in search of meaning that was never really there. The narrator, who probably reflects Collins himself, wants to reveal that their poems are not intended to deceive readers but to provide a sense of entertainment. It also feels..