AN IMAGERY ANALYSIS ON BILLY COLLIN S POEMS AANG KURNIAWAN NIM:

AN IMAGERY ANALYSIS ON BILLY COLLIN S POEMS AANG KURNIAWAN NIM: 105026000922 English Letters Department ADAB AND HUMANITIES FACULTY STATE ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY SYARIF HIDAYATULLAH JAKARTA 2010

AN IMAGERY ANALYSIS ON BILLY COLLIN S POEMS A Thesis Submitted to Adab and Humanities Faculty In partial fulfillment of requirements for The degree of Strata 1. AANG KURNIAWAN NIM. 105026000922 English Letters Department ADAB AND HUMANITIES FACULTY STATE ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY SYARIF HIDAYATULLAH JAKARTA 2010

APPROVEMENT AN IMAGERY ANALYSIS ON BILLY COLLIN S POEMS A Thesis Submitted to Adab and Humanities Faculty In partial fulfillment of requirements for The degree of Strata 1. Aang Kurniawan NIM. 105026000922 Approved: Drs. H. Abdul Hamid M.Ed Advisor English Letters Department ADAB AND HUMANITIES FACULTY STATE ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY SYARIF HIDAYATULLAH JAKARTA 2010 i

ABSTRACT Aang Kurniawan, an Imagery Analysis on Billy Collin s Poems. A Paper, Jakarta: English Letter Department, Adab and Humanities Faculty, UIN Syarief Hidayatullah, June 2010. This thesis concerned about the Imagery explanation and analysis on Billy Collin s poems entitles: another reason why I don t keep a gun in the house, The Art of Drowning and Flames. The research need several ways to test data and analyzed by using the collective data in several research sources. The writer uses qualitative method in which he describes the description of the concept of imagery and other meanings to support and influence the theme. It is analyzed qualitatively based on the relevant theory of the study. The writer employs himself to collect data; by reading the text, and marking them to make easier to analyze. The conclusion of the research is the writer found that the three of Billy Collin s poems have given something valuable as information for the people, and the types of imagery include: Auditory, Visual, Gustatory, and Tactile imageries. ii

DECLARATION I hereby declare that this submission is my own work and that, to the best of my knowledge and believe, it contains no material previously published or written by another person nor material which to a substantial extent has been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma of the university or other institute of higher learning, except where due acknowledgment has been made in text. Jakarta, June 14 2010 Aang Kurniawan iii

LEGALIZATION The thesis has been defended before the Letters and Humanities Faculty s examination committee on June 14 2010. The thesis has already been accepted as a partial fulfillment of requirements for the degree of Strata 1. Jakarta, June 14 2010 Examination Committee Signature Date Dr. H. M. Farkhan M.Pd (Chair Person) NIP. 19650919 200003 1 002 Drs. Asep Saefuddin, M.Pd (Secretary) NIP. 19640710 199303 1 006 Drs. H. Abdul Hamid, M.Ed (Advisor) NIP. 150 181 922 Dr. Frans Sayogie, M.Pd (Examiner I) NIP. 19700310 20003 1 002 Elve Oktafiyani, M.Hum (Examiner II) NIP. 19781003 200112 2 002 iv

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The writer would like to thank Allah SWT the one for a divine gift of grace. He alone we ask for help, for guidance and everything. He has given the writer many favors. He has also allowed the writer to finish this paper. It great pleasure for the writer. And May salutation and benediction be unto the noblest of the last prophet and beloved of Allah, Muhammad SAW, and May we will always be in the straightway until the end of the world. This research is presented to the English Department, Faculty of Adab and Humanities, Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University Jakarta as partial of requirements for the degree of Strata 1. In finishing this paper, the writer has got some helps and supports from some people. In these following lines the writer would like to express his thanks to them who have helped and supported him. The writer would like to express her special appreciation to: 1. Dr. H. Abdul Wahid Hasyim M.Ag, the Dean of Faculty of Adab and Humanities, Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University. 2. Dr. H. Muhammad Farkhan, M.Pd, the Chairman of the English Letters Department, Faculty of Adab and Humanities and Drs. Asep Saefuddin, M.Pd, the secretary of English Letters Department. 3. Drs. H. Abdul Hamid, M.Ed, the writer s advisor, fully thanks for your advices and guidance. v

4. All lecturers in English Letters Department who gave the writer knowledge of English Literature and Islam-studies. 5. His family, especially to her beloved parents; Bpk Sarwani, S.Pd and wife who always guide him to live the best life to be the useful person to everybody also to the country. The writer s beloved brother and sisters. Love you all. 6. His classmate in English Letter Department, especially to his best and beloved friends Chaezar Iqbal A.A.P, S.S, Ratu Prayuana, S.S, Billy, S.S, Raffli,S.S, Wahyu Rizki Umbara, S.S. his beloved girl, Lilis Nurhayati, SE.Sy. We have been through a lot of things together, the ups and down of life. Hopefully the memories are always in your heart, the continuity of the friendship you wish, and thank you all deeply for your supports and for helping him in such a way of gratefulness. 7. all of Staff of the UIN s library who have given him a permission to get the references in completing his research Finally, the writer hopes that his research can be useful for himself and for all other students who do a similar-study. Amen. Jakarta, June 14 2010 vi

TABLE OF CONTENTS Approvement... Abstract... Declaration... Legalization... Acknowledgement... Table of contents... i ii iv v vi viii CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION A. Background of the Study... 1 B. Focus of the Study... 5 C. Research Question... 5 D. Significance of the Research... 5 E. Research Methodology... 5 CHAPTER II THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK A. The Understanding of Poetry... 7 B. The Understanding Imagery... 8 C. Kinds of Imagery... 11 D. Explication... 15 E. Theme... 16 vii

CHAPTER III RESEARCH FINDING 1. Analysis of Another reason why I don't keep a gun in the house 1.1. Explication... 19 1.2. The Theme... 23 1.3. The imagery... 23 a. Auditory Imagery... 24 b. Visual Imagery... 24 2. Analysis of The Art of Drowning 2.1. Explication... 25 2.2. The Theme... 28 2.3. The Imagery... 29 a. Visual Imagery... 29 b. Gustatory Imagery... 30 3. Analysis of Flames 3.1. Explication... 31 3.2. The Theme... 34 3.3. The Imagery... 34 a. Visual Imagery... 34 b. Tactile Imagery... 35 c. Auditory Imagery... 36 Table I... 37 viii

CHAPTER V CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION A. Conclusion... 39 B. Suggestion... 40 BIBLIOGRAPHY... 41 APPENDICES... 43 Appendix 1 the Biography of Billy Collin... 43 Appendix 2 Billy Collin Works and awards... 44 ix

1 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION A. Background of the Study Poetry is an imaginative awareness of experience expressed through meaning, sound, and rhythmic of language choices which evoke an emotional response. Poetry has an expression of what is thought and felt, rather than what is known as a fact. Poetry is an ancient form of a literary study that has gone through numerous and drastic reinvention over time. The very nature of poetry as an authentic and individual mode of expression makes it nearly impossible to define. Poetry describes specific thing as indication of how images work together to convey feeling and ideas. To create a good poetry, a poet usually uses elements in poem that is called the intrinsic elements and made the readers feel easy to understand what the poet means. Intrinsic elements are divided into two forms: the physical form and mental form. The physical form consists of diction, the concrete word, figurative language, and sound that produced a rhyme and rhythm. While the mental form involves feeling, sense, tone, and intention. 1 From the explanation above, the writer is interested in analyzing the mental form that focuses on the imagery of the poem. For the writer, imagery is one of elements in poem that gives a sense full of meaning of the poem. It is one of the reasons why someone remembers and loves poem. A powerful image in poetry conjures up memories, feeling in our mind. Poetry is 1 I.A. Richard, Practical Criticism, London: Heyneman Educational Books, 1929, p. 120 1

2 usually expressed based on our imagination. The important thing is that the image is an instrument that a poet uses to express his or her intention or feeling. By using of image means to understand the essential meaning of the poem. A good image puts the reader right in the scene itself; making the reader be able to see, hear, smell, taste, and touch what is expressed in the poem. When such specific details appear in poems called images. An image is a concrete representation of a sense impression, feeling, or idea. 2 And Image is appeal to one or more of our senses, and also images may be visual (something seen), audotory (something heard), tactile (something felt), olfactory (something smelled), or gustatory (something tasted). Sometimes the poet use words imagery to refer a pattern of related details in a poem. Imagery has always existed in poetry; an image may occur in a single word, a phrase, and a sentence. And in poetry an image is a presentation in words of something the poet has perceived. In poem imagery is like the collective word we use for a group of images. The description may be an object seen, or of a sound, a smell, a taste, a touch or other physical sensation, or feeling tensions and movements in one s own body. 3 For the writer, imagery becomes the most important one because imagery influences to convey the intention and felling of the poets itself. Imagery seems like the general description in picturing each physical sensation. 2 Robert DiYanni, Literature; Approach to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama: McGraw Hill Companies, 2001, p.557 3 Richard Ellmann, and Robert O clair, Modern Poem; an Introduction to Poetry: W.W. Norton & Company, New York, 1976, p. xl

3 Like the poems that are chosen here, the writer chooses Billy Collin s poems because the poems are unique and the poems were made by using the good rhythm and words choice. Billy Collin employs the conventional imagery to construct commentary on life. Billy Collins s poetry shines brighter than others due to the sarcastic yet funny style he uses to create his poems. Collins uses simplistic stanzas to try to create images that pull the reader away from real life and draw them into his poetic creation. Billy Collins s cherished American poetry is featured largely throughout the United States. His poems rarely follow a significant topic; instead they are just thoughts that happen to pop into his head. Often, he uses poetry to offer relief in troubled times for himself and the reader. Billy Collins, a current teacher at Lehman College, was born in 1941 and had lived in New York City since his birth. Collins completed his fellowships at the New York Foundation for the Arts, National Endowment for the Arts, and The Guggenheim Foundation. From the day one, his talents as a writer shined through, as he was able to express his thoughts on paper well throughout grade school. Billy Collins doesn t force meter or rhyme into his poems in order to draw the reader s attention; instead he uses his witty descriptions and comedy. As quoted by Richard Alleva in his article of "A major minor poet": The most important thing to say about Collins is that he is a deliberately minor poet, even a rebelliously minor poet, a poet who would reject major status if it were thrust upon him. (Alleva, Richard. "A Major Minor Poet") Billy Collins has excelled his way through poetry fairly easy with his light verse style poems.

4 Billy Collins has been very successful in creating six published books and is featured around the country. His poetry is in many periodicals, and he does a lot of public reading in which he draws a large crowd. Collins has earned many awards for his incredible explanations through words. He won Best American Poetry twice for two of his books, once in 1992 and once in 1993. He won the Bess Hokin award in 1992, and finally, most recently was named US Poet Laureate in 2001. This award is one of the greatest, if not the greatest, awards received by a poet. Billy Collins has had no shortage of published books. The six currently published are: Nine Horses, Sailing Alone Around the room, Picnic Lightning, The Best Cigarette, The Art of Drowning, Questions about Angels and The Apple that Astonished Paris. Collins continues to strive as an achieved poet as people continue to find his simplistic poetry great. The writer would like to analyze three of Billy Collin s poem such; Another reason why I don't keep a gun in the house, The Art of Drowning, and Flames these poems were written by different source publishers. It is obviously a good poem of Collin s poem. Collin used imagery and word choice to create this poem, but more importantly to express the emotional significance that is implied. Then, in this research, the writer would like to analyze imagery and theme in those poems. And before analyzing imagery, the writer explicates the poems to get the ideas and meaning on each poem. Then, he will connect his analysis with theme of the poems.

5 B. Focus of the Study The research focused on imagery elements that construct Billy Collin s poems, when the imagery element influences the theme of each poem. The poems that will be analyzed are: Another reason why I don't keep a gun in the house, The Art of Drowning, and Flames. C. Research Question From the explanation above, the writer wants to propose the questions bellow: 1. What types of imagery are found in Billy Collin s poem? 2. How does imagery convey the theme of each poem? D. Significance of the Research The write hopes the research could increase the knowledge for the readers, especially the poetry lover, how to understand the imagery correlated with the theme in Billy Collin s poem. Besides, the writer also hopes the research will support the reader to be more interested in poetry itself. E. Research Methodology 1. The Objective of the Research: Related to the research question above, this research intends: a. To describe about the content of imagery found in Billy Collin s poems. b. To know the effect of imagery that can refer to the theme. 2. The Method of the Research This study uses qualitative method with descriptive analysis by explicating of the poems and analyzing the imagery. Then, the writer connects to the theme in each

6 Billy Collin s poem. The selected poems are: Another reason why I don't keep a gun in the house, The Art of Drowning, and Flames. 3. Technique of Data Analysis The writer uses descriptive analysis technique which is supported by the relevant theory. To analyze the data, this research uses the following steps: a. Reading all the content of text of poetry. b. Explicating the poetry in detail. c. Signing up the words which have imagery element. d. Analyzing the collected data, and then proposing the suitable theme. e. Writing a report of the study. 4. Instrument of the Research The instrument of the research is the writer himself through reading and marking the data which contain imagery and the theme in Billy Collin s poem. 5. Unit of Analysis The analysis unit of the research is three poems by Billy Collin. They are: Another reason why I don't keep a gun in the house, The Art of Drowning (is his fifth book of poetry Series publication prize, Copyright 1995 by the University of Pittsburgh Press), and Flames. 6. Time and Place The research conducted in the eighth semesters of years 2009/2010 and took place in Jakarta.

7 CHAPTER II THEORITICAL FRAMEWORK A. The Understanding of Poetry Poetry, like life, is one thing essentially a continuous substance or energy, poetry is a historically a connected movement, a series of successive integrated manifestations. Each poet, from homer or the predecessors of homer to our own day, has been, to some degree and at some point, the voice of movement and energy of poetry; in him, poetry has for the moment become visible, audible, and incarnate; and his extant poems are the record left of that partial transitory incarnation. The progress of poetry, with its vast power and exalted function, is immortal. 4 Poetry affords the clearest examples of subordination of reference to attitude and it is the supreme form of emotive language. According to Perrine, poetry might be defined as a kind of language that says more and says intensely than ordinary language does. It means that poetry uses certain language: it is not ordinary language that we use everyday. 5 Poems are usually very compressed. Often a complex experience of meaning and emotion can came out of few words. That means that each word of the poem counts heavily, so that it s absolutely necessary for a good reader to master all the words of 4 I.A Richard, 2001 Principles of literary Criticism, London and New York, Rutledge Classics, p.15 5 Laurence Perrine, Thomas R, Arp, 1988, Literature; structure, sound, and sense, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Publisher, p.552

8 the poem- to look them up if necessary, and to think through all their meanings to feel their emotional impact. As literary work, poetry relatively used the language more compact than prose. For some people, poem seems too difficult. According to Mc. Laughlin, poetry are difficult because the language used are precision and flair. 6 Through the language poets want to make us as readers to explore how the language works. While Wordsworth defined poetry as "the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings;" Emily Dickinson said, "If I read a book and it makes my body so cold no fire ever can warm me, I know that is poetry;" and Dylan Thomas defined poetry this way: "Poetry is what makes me laugh or cry or yawn, what makes my toenails twinkle, what makes me want to do this or that or nothing." But poetry, unlike prose, often has an underlying and over-arching purpose that goes beyond the literal. Poetry is evocative. It typically evokes in the reader an intense emotion: joy, sorrow, anger, catharsis, love. Alternatively, poetry has the ability to surprise the reader with an Ah Ha! Experience, revelation, insight, further understanding of elemental truth and beauty. 7 B. The Understanding of Imagery The use of imagery in poetry is essential for a comprehension of the overall meaning. Images are essentially word-pictures and they usually work by a method of 6 Thomas Mc. Laughlin, Literature: the Power of Language, New York Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. Publisher, 1989, p.11 7 Mark Flanagan, http://contemporarylit.about.com/cs/literaryterms/g/poetry.htm accessed on Friday 26 marches 2010, 20:35

9 association. This means that the images are created by associations that we make as readers within the linguistic context of the text. For example, the word "red" immediately creates an image or picture of the color red in our minds. This color is associated or has connotations with other feelings or images, like anger, and this increases the depth of the poem. The important thing to remember is that the images are an instrument that the poet uses to express his or her intentions or feelings. Understanding the use of images means understanding the essential meaning of the poem. According to Perrine, imagery may be defined as the representation through language of sense experiences. Poetry appeals directly to our sense, of course, through its music and rhythms, which we actually her when it is read aloud. And but indirectly it appeals to our sense through imagery, the representation to the imagination of sense experience. 8 Imagery as a mental picture is more incidental to a poem than metaphors, symbols, and theme and they are often confused. An image is language use in such a way to help us to see, hear, feel, thing about or generally understand more clearly or vividly what is being said or the impression that the writer wishes to convey. An image in poetry refers to the words or the language a writer use to convey a concrete mental impression, which may be visual, creating a picture in the readers imagination, or sensory in others ways. Imagery is a type of language which creates a sense impression, represents an idea, and thus heightens expression. The poet often articulates his/ her insights 8 Laurence Perrine, Thomas R, Arp, 1988, Literature; structure, sound, and sense, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Publisher, p.552

10 through image of figurative language. 9 The most common images include comparisons, such as simile and symbol that is used to represent something else. According to Mc. Laughlin in his book, literature: the power of language page 39, first an image is a reflection-not the thing itself, but a reproduction of its appearances in another form. Second, in popular usage an image is a false version of the self, intended for a public audience. In tradition literary usage the term image refer to a poem s ability to evoke the experiences of the senses. Images in poems try to make readers feel as though they are in the scene that the poem describes. To imagine the imagery in such as a poem is not easy, they are two techniques to convey imagery in a poem. For the first, a poet or speaker must use a description. It describes an object like observation or ideas through words. The second, it can be used with the figure of speech. 10 Nevertheless, the readers that want to identify imagery, which is explicit in the text, they must be active and creative to reveal meaning because imagery can only be describe if the reader immersed emotionally. 9 The American Experience: Poetry, 1968, New York: The Macmillan Company, p.8 10 Siswantoro. 2002. Apresiasi Puisi-Puisi Sastra Inggris. Surakarta: Muhamadiyah University Press. P.57

11 C. The kind of imagery Imagery refers to words used to evoke a sensory experience, including sight, sound, smell, touch, and taste. Consequently, although image seems to refer to something that can be seen, imagery is also the term used to describe anything in a poem that appeals to the senses. In the analysis of the experiences of reading poem, imagery very closely associated with sensations of poem, then. Perrine divided imagery into seven kinds, there are bellows: 1. Visual imagery (Images of sight) Visual imagery is something seen in the mind s eye. Visual imagery is kind of imagery that occurs most frequently in poetry. They sense can be explained on words worth s poem draffodils. I wandered lonely as a cloud That floats on hogh o er values and hills, When all at once I saw a crowd A host, of golden and daffodils: Beside the lake, beneath the trees Fluttering and dancing in the breeze. This poem images z person is walking through a field in early summer, around an aqua blue lake. You discover a field of daffodils that is flowing in motion like a grand dance full of elegance. This is full of sublime that can be seen in mind s eye.

12 Visual imagery means visual sensations of words do not commonly occur by themselves. They have certain regular companions so closely tied to them as to be only with difficulty disconnected. The chief of these are the auditory image- the sound of the words in the mind s ear- and the image of articulation-the feel in the lips, mouth, and throat, of what the words would be like to speak. 11 2. Auditory imagery (Images of hearing) It represents a sound in the text. This imagery appeared in Yeats s poem for example leda and the swam How those can terrified vague fingers push The feathered glory from her loosening thighs? And how can body, laid in that white rush, But feel the strange heart beating where its lie? In this stanza, the author gives sound effect such as the beat of the heart to explain the girl s anxiety. The girl heart tapped very fast when the swan attacks her rapidly and push her until she do anything. Her chest heaved in rhythm with his wildly beating heart. Auditory images of words are among the most obvious of mental happenings. Any line of verse or prose slowly read, will, for most people, sound mutely in the 11 I.A Richard, 2001 Principles of literary Criticism, London and New York, Rutledge Classics, p.108

13 imagination somewhat as it would if read aloud. 12 And the principal confusion which prevents a clear understanding of the point at issue does, however, concern images and may be dealt with here. It is of great importance in connection with the topic of the poem. 3. Organic Imagery (images of motion) In is an internal sensation, such as hunger, thirst, fatigue, or nursea. For example; in lord Randal ballad. O where have ye been, lord randal, my son? O where have ye been, my handsome young man? I here been to wild wood; mother, make my bed soon, For I m weary will hunting, and fain would lie down. In the stanza above, we feel that the prince is tired and he wants to faint lie down. When his mother asked him, the prince answer appears soft- hearted that we can look in the text. This ballad `is talk about the prince that poisoned by his girl. 4. Olfactory Imagery (images of smell) This sense represents the smell of perfume and the smell decomposed rubbish. We can feel this imagery in frost s poem out out. This poem told about a young boy who dies as a result of cutting his hand using a saw. The buzz-saw snarled and rattled in the yard And made dust and dropped stove- length sticks of wood Sweet-scented stuff when the breeze drew across it 12 I.A Richard, p.109

14 In this stanza, the author uses some imagery. The first lines, he uses the auditory imagery, and the second lines he uses the visual imagery, and the last lines frost uses the olfactory imagery. He told with the words: sweet-scented stuff when the breeze drew across it. This line appears smell nuance. 5. Tactile Imagery (images of touch) Tactile imagery it represents external touch such as hot, cold or when we touch something hard such as we touch wood, iron, stone etc. we can find this imagery when we read Shakespeare s sonnet. How like a winter hath my absence been From thee, the pleasure of the fleeting year! What freezing have I felt, what dark days seen! What old December s bareness everywhere! In this sonnet, our mind also involved in this sense that the speaker who is far away with his/ her love like at the winter. He feels alone and his/ her days are seen. 6. Gustatory Imagery (images of taste) Gustatory imagery it represents tastes like bitter or sour. We can find this imagery just in the title after apple-picking poem by Robert frost. When we read this title only, we can taste the apple although it is not specifically mentioned.

15 7. Kinesthetic Imagery (images of heat and cold) This imagery represents movement such as the movement of muscle or joints. Frost example in frost s poem after apple-picking. I felt the leader sway as the boughs bend. (Line 23) In this line, the author uses sway as the boughs bend. In this word, exactly, we understood the meaning. D. Explication An explication is a very specific kind of exercise, designed to help the readers understand a text fully; it is a kind of training in literary perception where the readers are asked to consider a single poem in detail. The idea and practice of explication is rooted in the verb to explicate, which concerns the process of "unfolding" and of "making clear" the meaning of things, so as to make the implicit explicit. The expression "explication" is used in both analytic philosophy and literary theory. An explication is a close reading of a single poem or passage of poetry. The purpose of this exercise originally to talks about the meanings of the poem primarily in terms of how the poem works that is trough diction, stanza and line structure, meter, rhythm and imagery. In other resource, X.J. Kennedy and Dana Giola explain, not intent on ripping a poem to pieces, the author of useful explication instead tries

16 to show how each part contributes to the whole. a good explication requires some basic familiarity with the language of poetry. 13 E. Theme A poem may be about anything, such topics as love, death, nature and beauty have traditionally been regarded as subjects particularly suitable to poetry; and poets have made many worthwhile statements and explored many profound ideas through such subjects. But poem may be about ordinary things and then the theme articulated the idea, general truth, or commentary on life people brought out through a literary work. 14 According to Robert DiYanni the theme defined as an idea or intellectually apprehensible meaning inherent and implicit in a work. In other words, a theme is a particular meaning that might identify in a poem. There is rarely only one theme, as poems are complex, poems can be interpreted from many different angles (as our powers of perception are equally complex). 15 And according to James Pickering that theme may be defined as the controlling idea or Meaning of a work of art in literature, theme is the central idea or statement about life that unifies and contrasts the total work. The theme must be simple, objective, and specific. The theme in poetry has to relate with the author and his/her imagination concept. Instead of theme 13 X.J. Kennedy and Dana Giola, an Introduction to Poetry. 10 th Ed. New York: Longman, 2002, p.609 14 The American Experience: Poetry, 1968, New York: The Macmillan Company, p.396 15 Robert DiYanni, Literature; Approach to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama: McGraw Hill Companies, p.557

17 is a specific characteristic that is related to poets. It is the basic idea which the poet is trying to convey the imagery. In a work of literature, Theme can be defined as the idea about the message of life, society, or human nature. Themes often explore timeless and universal ideas and may be implied rather than stated explicitly. Theme is the dominant idea that a writer is trying to convey to his readers in a work of literature. The controlling idea of a poem is the idea continuously developed throughout the poem by sets of key words that identify the poet's subject and his attitude or feeling about it. It may also be suggested by the title of a poem or by segment of the poem. It is rarely stated explicitly by the poet, but it can be stated by the reader and it can be stated in different ways. The controlling idea is an idea, not a moral; it is a major idea, not a minor supporting idea or detail; and it controls or dominates the poem as a whole. 16 The word theme used to name the particular subject matter of the poem in relationship to the reader's previous observation of the life about him and within him. Theme, then, refers to those broad generalizations and high-order abstractions which each person develops in dealing with the common experiences of life. Each of us was born, and each of us will die. And, then no one of us can report his own birth of his own dearth, everyone had had some personal observation at first of second hand of 16 Diana Lyn Lopez, http://litera1no4.tripod.com/themepoetry_frame.html accessed on Friday 26 marches 2010, 20:35

18 the elemental and universal facts of life, Birth and Death. So, too, every mature person has had some experience of what we shall call of Heart of and Mind, of Friendship and of Love, of Youth and Of Nature and of Art, of Work and of Play, of War and of Justice, of Doubt and of Terror; and most persons will add that they have had some experience of Faith and of God and is not complete list of universal experiences, but it will do to suggest the possible range of poetic themes..

19 CHAPTER III RESEARCH FINDINGS In this finding, the writer presents these perspectives of analysis, they are: the explication of the poem; the theme and the types of imagery in each poem, and the last of this chapter the writer make the table as the general hypothesis in this researchso, the analyses are described as follows. 1. Analysis of Another reason why I don't keep a gun in the house 1.1. Explication Another reason why I don't keep a gun in the house By Billy Collins The neighbors' dog will not stop barking. He is barking the same high, rhythmic bark that he barks every time they leave the house. They must switch him on on their way out. The neighbors' dog will not stop barking. I close all the windows in the house and put on a Beethoven symphony full blast but I can still hear him muffled under the music, barking, barking, barking, and now I can see him sitting in the orchestra, his head raised confidently as if Beethoven had included a part for barking dog. When the record finally ends he is still barking, sitting there in the oboe section barking, his eyes fixed on the conductor who is entreating him with his baton

20 while the other musicians listen in respectful silence to the famous barking dog solo, that endless coda that first established Beethoven as an innovative genius. In this poem actually tells about the contrasting perception of human and animal s characterization both of creatures are not different. This is neither a poem about a dog nor a gun, but - dare the writer suggest it is a poem of madness. This poem consists of five stanzas which meaning connected to each other, in the first stanzas, the poet describes the dog as a character which doesn t stop barking. The dog doesn t stop the high sound like before, rhythmic bark. Like the sentences below: The neighbors' dog will not stop barking. He is barking the same high, rhythmic bark that he barks every time they leave the house. They must switch him on on their way out. The explanations on Billy Collin s poem are to describe how humans are just like other species of inferior dogs, as shown in the whole poem how they cannot get the dog to stop of barking. The word barking in the first sentence of the first stanza shows that the poet uses sound as a poetic voice makes the readers actually hear the barking of the dog. The neighbors' dog will not stop barking. I close all the windows in the house

21 In his poem, Billy Collins draws a scene of him sitting in his house attempting to endure the barking of the neighbors dog. It is described in the above second stanza He tries everything to do including closing all the windows and even putting on a Beethoven symphony on full blast. Nothing works, and he continues to hear the dog s muffled bark. In the next stanzas, he begins to believe the dog s barking is a part of the symphony as he explains it in the following lines: and now I can see him sitting in the orchestra, his head raised confidently as if Beethoven had included a part for barking dog. He imagines the dog standing, chin up, waiting for the conductor to cue him in. Billy Collins uses personification to give the dog human qualities and show him as stronger or equal to a human because the character here means the poet itself cannot make the dog calm down. Where in the second sentences of this stanzas Collin uses simile as if to know the reader about the characterization of the dog if he want seems human. Collin indicates the dog character as just the human characterization; arrogant, tight, gruff or other character of the dog. This similar meaning when in one thing of characteristic both human and dog illustrated. It is shown in his two stanzas in the last of poem, as stated below: When the record finally ends he is still barking, sitting there in the oboe section barking,

22 his eyes fixed on the conductor who is entreating him with his baton while the other musicians listen in respectful silence to the famous barking dog solo, that endless coda that first established Beethoven as an innovative genius. Collins creates a vivid scene of the endlessness of this dog while still throwing in comedy and sarcasm. Those are the unique of Collin s poem. Uses a simple imagination, simple dictions, and refers to what human just doing in their daily life even just heard. And the poet uses a simple imagination in his poem to make easier in understanding to the reader but sometimes he uses the humor statement in his poem; it means that the poet clearly uses the unique imagination like personifies one thing with other simplify such in the two last stanzas show us that the dog personify the human character, in the two stanzas above, Collin s influences the reader to be reflected in mind but only uses the simplistic words. As a symbolization both of them, in commonly the substances of Collin s poem come from the reality case like the human neighborhood even with the near people, sometime human doesn t understand each other. They don t feel pleasure anytime, people live in individualism. Here, Billy Colin and his poem criticize those phenomena.

23 1.2. The Theme After explicating the poem furthermore the writer connects to the theme as the main idea in this poem. And from the discussion in the previous descriptions, the writer concludes that the theme of Another reason why I don't keep a gun in the house is Human sometimes doesn t understand each other even thought live beside home the title explains that every people refers to a good willingness it as a basic character to understand, but the content of this chapter shows us how important of relation among human but sometimes human doesn t understand each other. And it is real of this poem illustrated that finally neither human nor different of animal characterization; human know the strangeness and weaknesses, human can do everything, and also human doesn t reflected what they should do. Here actually the point that Collin wants the reader knows as a critic. 1.3. The Imagery Imagery is the important element in poem, which gives the influences of the poem itself. Imagery can also convey the theme of the poetry. It makes easier something that represents a thing in the real world. It evokes if the reader has sensitive feeling. Imagery will he found in the word or sequence of the words that refers to any sensory experience, not only in sight, but it may be sound or a touch or the other ways. And in this part, the writer discusses of imagery of Billy Collin s poem as shown in the explanation of the previous discussion, and then the writer finds some imagery as follows:

24 a. Auditory Imagery Auditory imagery uses to know the meaning of its poem, then to create an understanding of the reader s hearing. The poet uses auditory imagery to show the reader the purpose of the poem written and to evoke the reader by imagination on every statement in the poem. The word barking as indicator of this kind of imagery, the auditory mean something heard. And the word barking denotes a voice which is heard by every people and in this poem, auditory imagery describes something habitually in that time. It is the purpose of the poet to invite the reader feel inside the story. Auditory imagery presents as apart of images in this poem. As shown in the words full blast, and the words repetition; barking, barking, barking. (second stanzas) the words indicate something heard by the reader, it is the dog s voices. b. Visual Imagery In this poem, by the simple illustration in each stanza of the poem, Billy Collin wants the reader to come inside to the story, to feel the plot of the poem. And in this case, Visual imagery rises in several stanzas in this poem, as described in the following sentences: The neighbors' dog will not stop barking. I close all the windows in the house (line 2, second stanzas) and now I can see him sitting in the orchestra, his head raised confidently as if Beethoven Beethoven as a an innovative

25 Those sentences visualize that how difficult to change the dog s attitude to come out of the house, the poet wants the reader to participate in understanding the meaning of his poem. Imagery here, as the central idea segmented. Imagery explains with the concept to visualize, imagine each poem and finally to know the central idea or theme of each poem. 2. Analysis of The Art of Drowning 2.1. Explication The Art of Drowning By Billy Collins I wonder how it all got started, this business about seeing your life flash before your eyes while you drown, as if panic, or the act of submergence, could startle time into such compression, crushing decades in the vice of your desperate, final seconds. After falling off a steamship or being swept away in a rush of floodwaters, wouldn't you hope for a more leisurely review, an invisible hand turning the pages of an album of photographsyou up on a pony or blowing out candles in a conic hat. How about a short animated film, a slide presentation? Your life expressed in an essay, or in one model photograph? Wouldn't any form be better than this sudden flash? Your whole existence going off in your face in an eyebrow-singeing explosion of biographynothing like the three large volumes you envisioned. Survivors would have us believe in a brilliance here, some bolt of truth forking across the water, an ultimate Light before all the lights go out,

26 dawning on you with all its megalithic tonnage. But if something does flash before your eyes as you go under, it will probably be a fish, a quick blur of curved silver darting away, having nothing to do with your life or your death. The tide will take you, or the lake will accept it all as you sink toward the weedy disarray of the bottom, leaving behind what you have already forgotten, the surface, now overrun with the high travel of clouds. This poem tells about truthful and it s so straightforward. This poem describes about the experience of the poet itself. In the first stanzas Billy Collin makes a description about his problem that he wonders. He describes in words what he wants to suggest with the problem and he shows with the gesture of body and soul. I wonder how it all got started, this business about seeing your life flash before your eyes while you drown, as if panic, or the act of submergence, could startle time into such compression, crushing decades in the vice of your desperate, final seconds. The words panic, drown compression, crushing used to show the reader what the poet feels with his problem, Billy Collin makes the simple analogical with these words because Collin wants the reader to catch the point what the problem raises up. In the second stanza Collin invites the reader to make the explanation in understanding this poem; he visualizes the place in a rush of floodwater. And in the third stanza, Billy Collin makes the imagination of his work. He personifies the life is like we are in a short animated film, a slide presentation, life expressed in an essay.

27 Collin wants to know the reader that our life sometime is the same like this. As he explained below: How about a short animated film, a slide presentation? Your life expressed in an essay, or in one model photograph? Wouldn't any form be better than this sudden flash? Your whole existence going off in your face in an eyebrow-singeing explosion of biography- nothing like the three large volumes you envisioned. But in the next stanzas, the poets illustrated the best answers for this: Survivors would have us believe in a brilliance here, some bolt of truth forking across the water, an ultimate Light before all the lights go out, dawning on you with all its megalithic tonnage. But if something does flash before your eyes as you go under, it will probably be a fish, The poet explains in this stanza about the advices of survivor which come to us to believe that everything in life has some consequences; we have to make the life valuable, meaningful and useful before something supports to go out from us. In the sixth lines of fourth stanzas, he uses simile to make the description of human like the fish under the water. Anything doesn t come to us without the willingness of us. Another stanza told: a quick blur of curved silver darting away, having nothing to do with your life or your death. The tide will take you, or the lake will accept it all as you sink toward the weedy disarray of the bottom,

28 leaving behind what you have already forgotten, the surface, now overrun with the high travel of clouds The last stanza shows as a message in this poem for the reader relates to the points of Billy Collin s purpose. We don t worry about the life if we have a resolution of it. The best point in this stanza is that we have to know having nothing to do with the life and the death, but what the tide will be taken, or the lake will accept it. 2.2. The Theme Generally, the art of drowning tells about the experience of the poet himself, tells his life, describes any problem in his life as he wants to show the reader what shall everybody do to the best choice. This poem is also full of a valuable message. How the life is, how the poet explains about his wonderness about any business in life, he explains life flashes before the eyes while everybody looks drown, panic, and crushing. This is the unique of Billy Collin s poem because he always uses a humor in every sentence. This poem impresses anyone who reads it, we know how he personify the life like the story of animated film, a slide presentation furthermore Collin doesn t stop to think the life is like in an essay or in one model of photograph. The clues given supposed to the reality of our life. From that discussion above, the writer concludes that the theme of the art of drowning is We ought to be positive thinking to look up any problems in life there is a consequence of it This explained in the last stanza of the poem.

29 a quick blur of curved silver darting away, having nothing to do with your life or your death. The tide will take you or the lake will accept it all This sentences show how as the guidance of ourselves, many ways that we should choose in the right way. As the guidance of ourselves. 2.3. The Imagery a. Visual Imagery The visual imagery of this poem is shown us clearly and we can see it in the statements below: About seeing your life flash before your eyes. (Line, 2, first stanza) In the first stanza of Billy Collin makes a description of the problem, he personifies the business when seeing the life likes flash before the eyes. Imagery is shown in the following statements: In a rush of floodwaters, wouldn t you hope (line 2, second stanza) This sentence used by the poet as if he invited the readers to come and feel the situation in the story, as he wants to make the readers feel the rush of floodwater. However, he also explains about somebody who disagrees about it. It shown in an emotional word of the poet. Then he invites the reader to imagine the life like his experience in his imagination; imagine a short animated film, a slide presentation, and in an eyebrow-singing of biography. These are described below:

30 How about a short animated film, a slide presentation? (Line 1, third stanzas) In an eyebrow-singing explosion of biography- (line6, third stanzas) b. Gustatory Imagery The writer also finds gustatory imagery in Billy Collin s poem in first stanza. This poem explains the inside feelings of the poet, as a part of gustatory, as shown in the sentences below: Could startle time into such compression, crushing The writer assumes that the poet s statement written as a confession of the poet himself, it comes while his feeling is uncertain like he uses the word compression, and crushing which tell inside felling of someone. As mentioned in the previous sentences of the poem tell us that the poet seems as a panic person. Gustatory indicates the same thing of feeling inside. Billy Collin uses a variety of sound devices in the poem to evoke the reader s feelings and furthermore it influences to the theme of the poem as a general idea in Collin s poems because imagery known refers to the main issues of the poem. In the art of drowning poem, there is a clue as imagination of the poets to make clearly what the poem talking about, what the problems or issues which the poets want supposed to. The writer also generalizes the poem into the theme to simplify what the poem is talking about.

31 3. Analysis of Flames 3.1. Explication Flames By Billy Collins Smokey the Bear heads into the autumn woods with a red can of gasoline and a box of wooden matches. His ranger's hat is cocked at a disturbing angle. His brown fur gleams under the high sun as his paws, the size of catcher's mitts, crackle into the distance. He is sick of dispensing warnings to the careless, the half-wit camper, the dumbbell hiker. He is going to show them how a professional does it In our mind, the word flames describes something flame up such as the shine of fire but the poet here doesn t explain what the mean is. There are so many clues that indicate what story about; Smokey, the bear heads, and others. The simple poem of Billy Collin comprises with the symbols hidden in each word. The word flame personifies the meaning of the poem-contexts. In the first stanza, Billy Collin begins with the word Smokey. The writer assumes that Smokey as a character of imagination of the poet may be it like the animal or as the parable of human s name. The poet uses the next explanation in beginning

32 sentences of each stanza started by the pronouns. It stated to make the reader knows that the pronouns refer to the main character of this story, is the Smokey. Smokey the Bear heads into the autumn woods with a red can of gasoline and a box of wooden matches For the first sentence of the first stanza, Billy Collin imagines the Smokey as someone who comes to the jungle, this poem at least talks about the description of the environment. Someone walks to the jungle in autumn with his properties or tools which he brought, enthusiastic, with the soul spirit. In the first stanza, he mentions that he goes with a red of gasoline, a box of wooden matched. As a camper (everybody who hikes and stays in a mountain for a while) the writer assumes that he is a youth whom has the big spirit to go anywhere. In the second stanza explains that the character here goes with the hat on his head in irregular position. His ranger's hat is cocked at a disturbing angle In the next stanzas, the poet illustrates the man body. Walking under the sun and on the gleams sun to his skin looks brown. Billy Collin uses simile in describing the man. His brown fur gleams under the high sun

33 as his paws, the size of catcher's mitts, crackle into the distance The sentences in this stanza explain that the man here hikes the road of jungle under the high sunshine as his paws, the size of catcher s mitts. And then the step of the man s walking crackle into the distance of his journey. The Youngman with the big spirit is like the flames, the shine of fire walking to the jungle sometimes there are no purposes rationally, May the writer assumes that the man wants to show up his personality which is strong, brave like the fire illustrated in strongful. Like another professional camper or walker the young man stands for his believes. But in the next stanza the poet explains. He is sick of dispensing warnings to the careless, the half-wit camper, the dumbbell hiker. The man has got sick in his way of hiking, ignorance the warning of jungle s hike rules. He doesn t understand the procedures of camping in the jungle. He stands with the bad assumption, by performing his strong physic only. He is going to show them how a professional does it The last stanza explaining or answering the purpose of the man, walking to the jungle, careless the warning and ignoring the rules. He wants to make the others

34 know how professional he is it but, he never knows how he is with her spirit of the young just like the flames. 3.2. The Theme The word flames uses to explain a vivid image about something known by the poet, but the writer assumes the poet, Billy Collin here, uses a personification to make a comparation. The word flames personifies to the something like Smokey the bear heads. Smokey gives up because it's pointless to anything, even human s name. The poet explains the word Smokey in other stanzas to give an initial that Smokey means someone; everybody doesn t understand the values of life or how he must live in equal life with everything as well as his environments. Billy Collins is someone who has an equal life with everything even with his environment. It means, Billy Collins cares about his environment. He says that basically Smokey the bear is giving up because it s pointless in his life. Smokey is a hypocrite-personification. In this discussion, the writer concludes that the theme of flames is anything will be better, if it is located on its own place. 3.3. The Imagery a. Visual Imagery Billy Collin has a unique poem, basically he uses a simple imagination in writing his poem, to make the reader are interesting, Collin uses the visual imagery to attract the reader as he is a character in the story. Here, in flames, Billy visualize it in

35 the several words explaining the imaginative smoking as the bear heads in the autumn with all equipment as a hiker wants to make a road to the mountain. into the autumn woods with a red can of gasoline and a box of wooden matches The words such as autumn woods, a red can of gasoline, a box of wooden matches are the initials of visual imagery to make the story of the poem clear and easy to be understood by the readers of the poem. b. Tactile Imagery Tactile imagery is also used in this poem to show the reader to feel the character perception, to make the reader feels inside, feels like the character in the story. Now, let us observe the sentence below. under the high sun (line 2, third stanzas) This sentence denotes the reader about where the place of the story is and what the character done. The poet here invites the reader to imagine that the character here is in the jungle walking under the high sun. c. Auditory Imagery Crackle into the distance (line 5, third stanzas) The word crackle shows the reader about a sound of walking man in the jungle when the sunshine comes high. And the man goes as his paws into the distance of his ways.

36 From the analysis of the three poems above, it can be summarizes as in the following table: Table I The tables illustrate the hypothesis of the writer in analyzing the three poems of Billy Collin. No. Poems Types of imagery 1. Another a. Auditory reason why I imagery don't keep a gun in the house. Corpuses The neighbors' dog will not stop barking..(line 1 first and second stanza). He is barking the same high, rhythmic bark.(line, 2 first stanza). Silence to the famous barking dog solo, (line 2, last stanza). The neighbor's dog will not stop barking. Theme Human sometimes doesn t understand each other even thought live beside home b. Visual Imagery I close all the windows in the house (line 2, second stanzas). and now I can see him sitting in the orchestra, his head raised confidently as if Beethoven. Beethoven as an innovative genius (line 4, last stanzas).

37 2. The Art of Drowning. Visual Imagery About seeing your life flash before your eyes. (Line, 2, first stanza). In a rush of floodwaters, wouldn t you hope (line 2, second stanza). How about a short animated film, a slide presentation? (Line 1, third stanzas). We ought to have positivethinking to look up any problems in life, although there is a consequence of it In an eyebrow-singing explosion of biography- (line6, third stanzas). Gustatory Imagery Could startle time into such compression, crushing (line 3, first stanza). 3. Flames. Visual Imagery Smokey the Bear heads into the autumn woods with a red can of gasoline and a box of wooden matches (line 2-4, first stanza). Anything will be better if it is located in its own place. Tactile Imagery under the high sun (line 2, third stanzas). Auditory Imagery crackle into the distance (line 5, third stanzas).

38 CHAPTER IV CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS A. CONCLUSIONS To understand the poem in detail, the readers have to know the elements in a poem, such intrinsic elements. Some important elements in the poem are imagery and theme. Most figures of speech draw up a picture in the reader mind. These pictures created or suggested by the poet are called 'images'. To participate fully in the world of poem, we must understand how the poet uses image to convey more than what is actually said or literally meant. Imagery refers to the "pictures" which we perceive with our mind's eyes, ears, nose, tongue, skin, and through which we experience the "duplicate world" created by poetic language. Imagery evokes the meaning also and truth of human experiences not only in abstract terms, as in philosophy, but also in more perceptible and tangible forms. This is a device by which the poet makes his meaning strong, clear and sure. The poet uses sound words and words of color and touch in strengthening figures of speech as well as to concrete details that appeal to the reader's senses which are used to build up images. Billy Collin s poem contains deep meaning in each of his poem. Imagery in each poem is developed from words of choice that are concrete and specific; the poet

39 uses the imagery in his poem in order to the readers feel the author s experience in reading the poem. Billy Collins s poem shines brighter than others due to the sarcastic yet funny style he uses to create his poem. Collins uses simplistic stanzas to try to create images that pull the reader away from the real life and draw them into his poetic creation. Billy Collins s poem cherishes American poetry which is featured largely throughout the United States. He uses poetry to believe his troubled times for himself and the reader. B. SUGGESTIONS Through this study, the writer would like give suggestions; for the student who are interested in studying poems and their imagery. They can use other related references to enrich their understanding about the imagery, for the reader who want to understand the poem-contents, he should read the text of the poem repeatedly in order to he can explicate the poem perfectly. And finally, the writer hopes that this study could become a contribution for the readers who want to know the poem and help the reader to have better understanding of the poem, especially about imageries and theme, and this study could be an additional reference for the students who want to do the similar research.

40 BIBLIOGRAPHY Books: Bautista, Cirilo F. (1985) DLSU Research Center: De La Salle University Manila Badrun, Ahmad, Drs. Pengantar Ilmu Sastra. Surabaya. Usana offset printing. Clare, M. T., S.C. (1960) A Book of Poetry. New York: Macmillan Co. DiYanni, Robert. Literature; Approach to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama: McGraw Hill Companies. Drew, E. H. (1933) Discovering Poetry. New York: W.W. Norton & Co., Inc. Ellmann, Richard, O clair, Robert. Modern Poems: an introduction to poetry. New York. W.W Norton & Company. 1976 Gillespie, Sheena, Fonseca, Terezinha, Sanger, carol. Literature across Cultures. Boston. ALLYN and BACON. 1994 Macmillan Literary Heritage. The American Experience: Poetry. New York: The Macmillan Company. 1968 Seng, P.J. and Main, C.F. (1996) Poems: Wadsworth Handbook and Anthology. California: Wadsworth Publishing Company Inc. Siswantoro. Apreasi Puisi-Puisi Sastra Inggris. Surakarta: Muhamadiyah University Press. 2002 Sumardjo, Jacob & K.M, Saini. Apresiasi Kesusastraan. Jakarta. PT Gramedia. 1986 Wellek, Rene & Warren, Austin. Teori Kesusateraan. Jakarta. PT Gramedia. 1989 X.J. Kennedy and Dana Giola, an Introduction to Poetry. 10 th Longman, 2002, p.609 Ed. New York:

41 Websites: Diana Lyn Lopez, http://litera1no4.tripod.com/themepoetry_frame.html accessed on Friday 26 marches 2010, 20:35 Mark Flanagan, http://contemporarylit.about.com/cs/literaryterms/g/poetry.htm accessed on Friday 26 marches 2010, 20:35 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/theme_ (literature) accessed on Friday 26 marches 2010, 20:40 http://litera1no4.tripod.com/imagery_frame.html accessed on Friday 26 marches 2010, 20:38

42 Appendices Appendix 1 The Biography of Billy Collin The American poet, William A. ( billy ) Collin was born on 22nd March 1941 in New York City. He rendered two subsequent terms from 2001 to 2003, as the prestigious Poet Laureate of the United States. In 1992, Billy Collins was honored by the New York Public Library as a Literary Lion. In 2004, he was chosen as the New York State Poet. Billy Collins has written many Poetry, some of the popular ones are Pokerface published in 1977, Video Poems published in 1980, The Apple That Astonished Paris in 1988, Questions About Angels in 1991, The Art of Drowning in 1995, Picnic, Lightning in 1998, Nine Horses in 2002, The Trouble with Poetry in 2005, She Was Just Seventeen in 2006 and the latest Ballistics was published in 2008. Collin took birth in the house of William and Katherine Collins. He did his schooling at Archbishop Stepinac High School in a town named White Plains. Billy Collins attained his bachelor's degree in 1963 from the College of the Holy Cross and obtained his Post Graduation and Ph.D in English from the University of California at Riverside. Billy Collins started his career in 1968, as a professor in the English department at Lehman College in Bronx. He also served as a launching Advisory Board member of the prestigious CUNY Institute for Irish-American studies at Lehman College. During the late seventees Billy Collins took up educational assignments as visiting professor and writer at the Sarah Lawrence College in New York.. In 1994, Collin was honored as the "Poet of the Year" by the famous monthly poetry journal entitled Poetly. Collin s collection of thirty four poems titled The Best Cigarette turned out to be a bestseller in 1997. In 2002, Billy recorded his two poems in the audio version of the popular Garrison Kellor s collection Good Poems. He did a live recording in 2005 at the Peter Norton Symphony Space, titled "Billy Collins Live in New York City. The Poetry Foundation honored Collins with the Mark Twain Prize in the category of Humor in Poetry in 2005. Billy Collins also earned fellowships from three prestigious foundations: the New York Foundation for the Arts, the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation and National Endowment for the Arts. On 6th September 2002, Collins addressed his poem The Name at the special joint session of the United States congress in the central hall, held in remembrance of the victims of 9/11 attacks. Collin s poetry has earned a place in textbooks, anthologies, magazines and periodicals. His poetry also appeared in The New Yorker Harper's, Paris Review, American Scholar, American Poetry Review and Poetry. Collin s poetry was featured in the famous Pushcart Prize anthology. He rendered his services as a guest editor for the edition of The Best American Poetry and as an editor for Poetry 180: A Turning Back to Poetry. Collin has led summer poetry annual workshops at University College, Galway in Ireland, and was also a visiting professor at University of New York and Columbia University. Currently Billy Collins lives a peaceful life in Somers, New York.

43 Appendix 2 Billy Collin Literary Works and Awards Over the years, Poetry magazine has awarded him several prizes in recognition of poems they publish. During the 1990s, Collins has won five such prizes. The magazine also selected him as "Poet of the Year" in 1994. He has received fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation in 1993, and the New York Foundation for the Arts. Billy Collins (1941 - Present) Billy Collins (born March 22 1941) is an accomplished American poet who served two terms as the eleventh Poet Laureate of the United States. In his home state, he has been recognized as a Literary Lion of the New York Public Library and selected as the New York State Poet for 2004. He was born William Collins in a small William Carlos Williams worked as a Holy Cross College, and earned a romantic poetry at the 1971. Collin is a distinguished Professor of English at City University of New York, where he taught from 1968 to 2001 and has remained a member of the faculty. More recently, he has taught and served as a visiting writer at Sarah Lawrence College As U.S. Poet Laureate, he read his poem "The Names" at a special joint session of the September 6 His books of poetry include: Nine Horses (2002) Sailing Alone Around the Room: New and Selected Poems (2001) Picnic, Lightning (1998) The Art of Drowning (1995), which was a Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize Questions About Angels (1991), the winner (two years later) of the National Poetry Series competition The Apple That Astonished Paris (1988) Video Poems (1977) He recorded The Best Cigarette in 1997, a collection of 33 of his poems. He also recorded two of his poems for the audio versions of Garrison Keillor's collection Good Poems (2002). Collins' poetry is marked by a rejection of restrictive forms such as the villanelle. For instance, his poem Sonnet begins "All we need is fourteen lines, well, thirteen now", and continues in this vein; the "sonnet" is fourteen lines, but does not rhyme and is not, until the final line, iambic pentameter. His Paradelle for Susan is emblematic of his rejection of formal poetry.