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18 pages 36 minutes read

Billy Collins

Forgetfulness

Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1990

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Further Reading & Resources

Related Poems

Introduction to Poetry” by Billy Collins (1988)

Collins’s tongue-in-cheek description of a class learning about poetry argues for a different way of looking at a piece of writing or art. He wants his students to “drop a mouse into a poem / and watch him probe his way out” (Lines 5-6) or “waterski / across the surface of the poem” (Lines 9-10). All the students want to do, though, is “tie the poem to a chair with rope / and torture a confession out of it […] to find out what it really means” (Lines 13, 15, 16).

Dancing Toward Bethlehem” by Billy Collins (1991)

Collins’s sonnet-like love poem alludes to one of the most famous modernist poems of the 20th century, William Butler Yeats’s “The Second Coming,” which includes the phrase “Slouches toward Bethlehem” (Line 22). With a tone decidedly more upbeat than Yeats’s, Collins writes about the end of the century, imagining a less fearsome apocalypse in which he dances with his beloved.

The Best Cigarette” by Billy Collins (1997)

Emblematic of Collins’s tendency to write about small, mundane things, “The Best Cigarette” is a kind of ode to a lost habit, culminating in a description of how the best cigarettes helped with the writing process: “Then I would be my own locomotive, / trailing behind me as I returned to work / little puffs of smoke, / indicators of progress, / signs of industry and thought” (Lines 24-28).

One Artby Elizabeth Bishop (1976)

This classic villanelle by Elizabeth Bishop also explores themes of loss and similarly builds a catalog of increasingly important lost items until the final crescendo of the last stanza. While Bishop and Collins occupy distinct places in the poetic canon, Bishop’s poem offers a different perspective on similar theme, in a different poetic form.

Further Literary Resources

This exhaustive interview with George Plimpton of The Paris Review took place at the height of Collins’s popularity, just after his appointment as US Poet Laureate. Spanning everything from Collins’s upbringing and his poetic influences to what kind of pen he likes to write and his thoughts on formal poetry, the interview provides an intimate glimpse into Collins’s mind and writing process.

As part of his tenure as Poet Laureate, Collins established the Poetry 180 project, meant to encourage high school students to read and listen to contemporary poetry for all 180 school days of the year. The library of congress website provides links to all poems in the project, with suggestions on how to read and present them in a school context.

"A Brisk Walk: Billy Collins in Conversation" (2007)

 

Originally published in Guernica magazine in 2007, Joel Whitney’s interview with Collins addresses some of Collins’s claims about the “trouble” with poetry and what makes poetry difficult and inaccessible. Collins extrapolates on his writing process and discusses the importance of humor in his work.

In this PBS Newshour Poetry Series, broadcast in 2013, Collins discusses his latest collection, Aimless Love; how he incorporates “fun” into his poetry; and the role of a “public” poet in America. He reads from his new book, including the opening poem, “The Sand Hill Cranes of Nebraska.”

The Poetry Foundation’s lecture series, in which notable artist, scholars, and critics give talks on the art form, featured Collins in 2010. Speaking at the Key West Literary Seminar, Collins talks about the role of the reader and how he thinks about the poem as a “social encounter.” He reads a number of poems for the live audience, interspersed with commentary.

In the Poetry Foundation’s Poetry Off the Shelf podcast, Curtis Fox explores poetry and music, particularly that of the saxophone. Examining Billy Collins’s poem “The Invention of the Saxophone” as well as a saxophone composition by Pierre Jalbert, the podcast begins with Collins’s poem and moves into Jalbert’s process.

Listen to Poem

With his signature delivery, Collins reads “Forgetfulness” to an enthusiastic audience at the Dodge Poetry Foundation.

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