Accessibility in the Poetry of Billy Collins

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Accessibility in the Poetry of Billy Collins
Poet Billy Collins has been called the “class clown in the schoolhouse of American poetry” (Whitney para. 1), yet his high profile has been proven by his having served as the Poet Laureate of the United States from 2001 through 2003. In fact, Collins has shown himself to be so popular as a poet that at least three of his recent poetry collections have surpassed previous sales records for modern poetry, and are equally if not more popular on audio CD (Hilbert II. para. 23). One of the things that Collins has always been known for as a poet is his promotion of accessible rather than difficult or complex poetry (Whitney para. 2). In fact, almost all critics who have studied Collins' work have...

.....ng lyrics and comedy routines, the element of the oral presentation can be lost when the poems are read on the page. As we have seen in this brief analysis, Collins' poems are highly accessible and straightforward to just about any reader, but these additional considerations suggest that their best qualities may only be appreciated when read aloud.
Works Cited
Collins, Billy. Ballistics. New York: Random House, 2008.
Hilbert, Ernest. “Wages of Fame: The Case of Billy Collins.” Contemporary Poetry Review, 2006. 15 Oct. 2009 <http://www.cprw.com/Hilbert/collins2.htm>.
Whitney, Joel. “A Brisk Walk: An Interview with Billy Collins.” Guernica Magazine. June 2006. 15 Oct. 20009 <http://www.guernicamag.com/interviews/185/a_brisk_walk>.