The Introduction to Art (Poetry)

        
          In this literary masterpiece, Introduction to Poetry, the writer, Billy Collins expounds on how many readers (students) "strangle" and "torment" poems simply just to find the significance of it. I understood the meaning of the poem on the first try and I read it again. The line 5-6 quote, "I say drop a mouse into a poem and watch him probe his way out.", was the real attention grabber for me and automatically I knew what this poem was about. In this poem, Collins explains that students just want to force the meaning out of poems instead of taking the time to read, enjoy, and actually understand what poems says instead of reading to just an answer. Collins worded this poem well and I was able to spot a few poetic devices. He used, my favorite rhetorical device, parallelism starting with the first line, "I ask", "I say" and "I want". Overall, I would much rather read and critique many poems, like this one, than having to watch the film Their Eyes were Watching God.