Aimless Love: A Selection of Poems
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.95 (926 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 0385366396 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 1 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2016-03-04 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
In selections from his four most recent collections, from Nine Horses (2002) to Horoscopes for the Dead (2011), and 51 glimmering new poems, former poet laureate and reader favorite Collins, the maestro of the running-brook line and the clever pivot, celebrates the resonance and absurdity of what might be called the poet’s attention-surfeit disorder. From Booklist Collins, or the speaker in his poems, watches himself with helpless bemusement as he lives “a life of continual self-expression, / jotting down little things.” Obsessive “noticing” gets him into all sorts of trouble, as recounted so wryly, so tenderly in “Aimless Love,” the poem that gives this vital and shrewdly provocative volume its title and in which the speaker records his sequential ardor for a wren, a mouse, and a bar of soap. Some poems are funny from the opening gambit to the closing flourish. But Collins’ droll wit is oft
He is also the editor of Poetry 180: A Turning Back to Poetry, 180 More: Extraordinary Poems for Every Day, and Bright Wings: An Illustrated Anthology of Poems About Birds. . A distinguished professor of English at Lehman College of the City University of New York, and a distinguished Fellow at the Winter Park Institute of Rollins College, he was Poet Laureate of the United States from 2001 to 2003 and Poet Laureate of New York State from 2004 to 2006. Billy Colli
By turns playful, ironic, and serious, Collins’s poetry captures the nuances of everyday life while leading the reader into zones of inspired wonder. Collins’s unmistakable voice, which brings together plain speech with imaginative surprise, is clearly heard with every word, reminding us how he has managed to enrich the tapestry of contemporary poetry and greatly expand its audience. Appearing regularly in The Best American Poetry series, his poems appeal to readers and live audiences far and wide and have been translated into more than a dozen languages. “Billy Collins puts the ‘fun’ back in ‘profundity.’ ”—Alice FultonFrom the two-term Poet Laureate of the United States Billy Collins comes his first compilation of new and selected poems in twelve years. Aimless Love combines new poems with selections from four previous books—Nine Horses, The Trouble with Poetry, Ballistics, and Horoscopes for the Dead. In the poet’s own words, he hopes that his poems “begin in Kansas and end in Oz.” Touching on the themes of love, loss, joy, and poetry itself, these poems showcase the best work of this “poet of plenitude, irony, and Augustan grace” (The New Yorker).Envoy Go, little book,out of this house and into the world, carriage made of paper rolling toward townbearing a single passengerbeyond the reach of this jittery penand far
"Delightful, Refreshing, Funny" according to Leisa Hammett. What a talent. Oops, I'd never heard of Billy Collins until he read the most delicious poem on the new Prarie Home Companion radio show. Poetry is manna to my soul and Collins' funny and deep introspective reflections on the human heart, on the ordinary, on the every day are surprising and even affirming. Loved this book and am in awe of this poet. Great re. Poetry even for people who "don't like poetry". LAN Guy Billy Collins has a sense of humor that is ALWAYS in play.So many of his poems end with an unexpected twist or turn. And yet each is welcome and one never has the sense of "there's the hook".It always seems original and fresh.Not that this is a "laugh book". Collins' work can be moving as well as light.But how can you not love a poem like "Hangover"?Hangove. Poetry for the Average Reader and the Poetry Elite This is a "recent best of" collection that has both funny and serious poems, each with that unique narrative Billy Collins voice ("that isn't the author's voice").There are a lot of contemporary poets out there today who don't like Billy Collins because he is accessible to "non-elites." The average person can pick up a book of his poetry and enjoy it. His p