Reading Response for "Introduction to Poetry" by Billy Collins

            In the poem Introduction to Poetry by Billy Collins, the author shows how you should enjoy poetry rather than taking it apart to find a deeper meaning. Sometimes the message is simple and if you dig to far into the poem you will change it into something that it’s not. 

            One example of this is when the poet says, “Torture a confession out of it.” The author is showing how readers tend to tear apart poetry in order to get a message out of it. Sometimes poems don’t have deep morals. It could be a simple message or maybe there isn’t a message at all. The author shows how readers abuse poetry to try and get something out of it. If the poet of a certain poem wanted the reader to learn a lesson from the poem, he/she would make it more direct.

            Furthermore, Billy Collins wants readers to enjoy poetry and appreciate the author that wrote it. This is shown in the line, “waving at the authors name on the shore.” When you look too deeply into a poem you start to alter the meaning. The author’s original message is no longer there because the reader has twisted it into something that it wasn’t meant to be. I think that if readers understand what the author is trying to say in his or her poem they can then find their own messages based off of ideas that were already there.

            The last example is that readers won’t be able to enjoy the poem if they are constantly searching for a message. Instead of reading into every line of the poem, simply enjoy it. Collins says, “I want them to waterski across the surface of a poem.” He wants readers to read poetry without worrying about finding a message. That way they can enjoy it instead of digging for a moral.

            Poetry is a beautiful form of writing that is read all over the world. The author of the poem Introduction to Poetry shares why he thinks that it is important that readers enjoy poetry rather than ripping it apart in order to find a message. Poetry is meant to be enjoyed by readers. Unfortunately if all they do is search for a message it’s hard to appreciate it for what it is.