A lot of my poems either have historical sequences or other kinds of chronological grids where I'm locating myself in time. I like to feel oriented, and I like to orient the reader at the beginning of a poem. Billy Collins beginchronologicalfeel share on social
Emily Dickinson never developed. She remained loyal to her persona and to that same little metrical song that stood her in such good stead. She is a striking example of complexity within a simple package. Her rhymes are like bows on the package. Billy Collins bowcomplexitydevelop share on social
I try to write very fast. I don't revise very much. I write the poem in one sitting. Just let it rip. It's usually over in twenty to forty minutes. I'll go back and tinker with a word or two, change a line for some metrical reason weeks later, but I try to get the whole thing just done. Billy Collins backchangefast share on social
I think more influential than Emily Dickinson or Coleridge or Wordsworth on my imagination were Warner Brothers, Merrie Melodies, and Loony Tunes cartoons. Billy Collins brothercartooncoleridge Change image and share on social
Radio is such a perfect medium for the transmission of poetry, primarily because there just is the voice, there's no visual distraction. Billy Collins distractionmediumperfect Change image and share on social
Poetry can do a lot of things to people. I mean it can improve your imagination. It can take you to new places. It can give you this incredible form of verbal pleasure. Billy Collins formgiveimagination Change image and share on social
In the long revolt against inherited forms that has by now become the narrative of 20th-century poetry in English, no poet was more flamboyant or more recognizable in his iconoclasm than Cummings. Billy Collins 20thcenturycumming Change image and share on social
I'm a nearly uncontrollable Geoff Dyer fan, who I think is one of the most comically brilliant writers today. Billy Collins brilliantcomicallydyer Change image and share on social
The first line is the DNA of the poem; the rest of the poem is constructed out of that first line. A lot of it has to do with tone because tone is the key signature for the poem. The basis of trust for a reader used to be meter and end-rhyme. Billy Collins basisconstructdna share on social
I'm trying to write poems that involve beginning at a known place, and ending up at a slightly different place. I'm trying to take a little journey from one place to another, and it's usually from a realistic place, to a place in the imagination. Billy Collins beginendimagination share on social