Questions about Angels: Poems

by Billy Collins

Book Overview

Billy Collins has emerged as the most beloved American poet since Robert Frost, garnering critical acclaim and broad popular appeal. Annie Proulx admits, "I have never before felt possessive about a poet, but I am fiercely glad that Billy Collins is ours." This special, limited edition celebrates Billy Collins's years as U.S. Poet Laureate. Questions About Angels--one of the books that helped establish and secure his reputation and popularity during...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0822956985
• ISBN13: 9780822956983
• Release Date: January 1999
• Publisher: University of Pittsburgh Press
• Length: 88 Pages
• Weight: 0.38 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 5.5" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

Should be Required Reading for jaded citizens

Several weeks ago I first discovered Billy Collins. A newspaper article had a quotation where he discussed the fact that he uses subjects and predicates when writing poetry. This peculiar poetic quirk led me to go online to discover that poetry. There I found the poem "Nostalgia", which is included in this book.I read it, enjoyed it, passed it on to friends. Then a strange thing happened - lines from Nostalgia kept cropping up in my memory. Each time it happened, I gained a deeper respect for the poem. I read and reread my cut-and-paste copy of Nostalgia. Finally, the only possible result occurred - I bought the book that contained it. A book filled with similar marvels.Reviewers far more renowned that I have already given incredible praise to Billy Collin's work. I'm a pretty ordinary person. I've never studied so that I know all the "proper" elements of a poem. So what can I add that hasn't already been said? I can add that Billy Collins reaches people like me. He takes our ordinary, everyday experiences and looks at them with magic eyes. He sees - and says - the things we all want to feel about life and its infinite possibilities.Above all, he makes me feel good about my life and my world. I urge you to explore the Collins world - to get that same surge of energy that I have experienced.

No reference materials required

I don't read too much poetry anymore, I'm too short of time to spend it checking an encyclopedia to understand who the poet is talking about. Often today's poetry becomes a contest between the writer and reader as to who knows the most about ancient Greeks or Babylonia. But along comes Billy Collins, a poet who speaks my language. I related immediately with the subject of his poem, "Forgetfulness". The second stanza describes familiar struggles, "as if, one by one, the memories you used to harbor decided to retire to the southern hemisphere of the brain to a little fishing village where there are no phones." As I reach the golden years, memories are replaced with a keen awareness of mortality. The author's final stanza in "The Afterlife", reinforces my personal belief that the small pleasures of life are the important ones. Speaking of the hopes of those existing in the state of afterlife; "wishing they could return so they could learn Italian or see the pyramids, or play some golf in a light rain. They wish they could wake in the morning like you and stand at a window examining the winter trees...". My wish, is that Billy Collins keeps us all laughing and enjoying his poetry for many years, and books, to come.

If you believe you don?t like poetry?.

author of DREAMING YOUR REAL SELF, DREAM BACK YOUR LIFE, and WHO'S CRAZY, ANYWAY?Billy Collins takes the ordinary and makes it extraordinary. His juxtaposition of images and ideas is whimsical, surprising, and always delightful--from the simple act of weighing his dog to a single angel dancing on the head of a pin in time with the music of a jazz combo. This is poetry to read aloud, to let it touch you deeply, to make you laugh and wish you could write and see the world as he does. Prepare to be captivated by his flights of imagination without struggling to understand.

rejected but dog loyal

I missed the final guest editor's cut with a batch of poems sent to Alaska Quarterly Review, finding out only later that that editor was Billy Collins. Still, he is one of only a few modern poets that I not only buy for myself, but buy for gifts. People who didn't think they even liked poetry have their little peepers blown wide open by this guy. Simple clear language, luminous imagery, and the generous sort of humor that protects sensitive souls from despair. This is poetry that communicates love of language, love of ideas, and love for the reader. Billy, write me, this is a dinner invitation.

The Magic continues.

After reading Picnic, Lightning and loving it, I went searching for more of Collins' work. "Questions About Angels" did not disappoint. While I believe that Picnic is a more polished and more accessible collection of poems, "Angels" left me with many favorites and with the continued amazement at how Collins' language can cut so deeply to the heart of so many matters. He remains my favorite contemporary poet and I would encourage anyone with a love for language to give him a try.