Authors
Billy Collins (b. 1941)
Bibliography
Biography
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Questions for Discussion and Writing
1. The Norton Anthology introduction to Collins states that “some of his poems coast on charm alone,” and that “the breezy tone and quick humor” of other poems can “seem to suggest that nothing too serious is going on.” Read aloud the opening stanza of “Osso Buco” and the opening three stanzas of “Tuesday, June 4, 1991.” What cues tell you that the tone is “light?” Does that tone continue through to the end of each poem? If the mode changes over the course of these poems, can you locate where those changes are indicated?
2. Collins writes frequently about sleep and dreams - favorite subjects of British and American poets since the times of Keats and Poe. Looking at “The Night House” and “Osso Buco,” describe any freshness or originality you find in Collins’s return to this traditional theme.
3. Think about artists who mingle “light” work with “serious” work over the course of a career. Among the paintings of Picasso and Goya there are gruesome images of war, but also peaceful pictures of domesticity, play, and ease. Mark Twain wrote tales of heartache and terror as well as works of exuberant humor; T. S. Eliot gave us both the highly serious “The Waste Land” and the funny, lyrical “Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats.” Richard Wilbur’s verse ranges from dark elegies to “Flippancies.” Hollywood directors can mix it up too: after finishing Schindler’s List, Steven Spielberg’s next project was The Flintstones. Think about other poets, novelists, dramatists, artists, or film directors who mix the breezy with the dark. As a reader or witness, how comfortable are you with that kind of variety in the work of an artist, and why?