When I became poet laureate, I was in a slightly uncomfortable position because I think a lot of poetry isn't worth reading. Billy Collins laureatelotpoet Change image and share on social
Humor, for me, is really a gate of departure. It's a way of enticing a reader into a poem so that less funny things can take place later. It really is not an end in itself, but a means to an end. Billy Collins departureendentice Change image and share on social
I first came across 'The Lake Isle of Innisfree' in college, with other anthologized poems by Yeats. Billy Collins anthologizecollegeinnisfree Change image and share on social
A lasting marriage, they say, is one where the two reach for different sections of the Sunday paper. Me, I go right for the obituaries, just like those very elderly characters in Muriel Spark's spooky novel, 'Memento Mori.' Billy Collins characterelderlylast share on social
Now that I'm older, a real source of interest is the ages of the dead, the number; the day is off to an optimistic start when the departed are all older than I. Billy Collins agedaydead 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 an only child, and I can take all the attention you manage to pile on me. Billy Collins attentionchildmanage Change image and share on social
Emily Dickinson seems rather tame because she pretty much uses the same meter every time. It's called 'common meter.' It's a line of four beats that's followed by a line of three beats. Billy Collins beatcallcommon Change image and share on social
I find that my reading, particularly nonfiction, can inspire a poem as well as anything else. Billy Collins findinspirenonfiction Change image and share on social
The public is probably more suspicious of poets than women, and maybe for good reason. Billy Collins goodpoetpublic Change image and share on social
