HU300 unit 6 DB topic 1 - Research Paper Example

The first poem is the ‘introduction to poetry’ by Billy Collins. The is a distinguished American poet who has written several widely acclaimed poems and anthologies and has also been bestowed several national as well as international prizes including the Mark Twain prize for humor in Poetry in 2005. The poem, as the title suggests is about introducing poetry through poetry and the author has done it most beautifully. Billy Collins is also a professor at a renowned university and this poem reflects it in the way that it is an about a teaching explaining to his students about how to approach a poem.

The idea of this poem is to tell the students that a poem should not merely be read on its face value but they should try to see and feel the character and spirit of the poem. Since the poem is supposed to be an ‘introduction’ it is written in very simple words and hence very easily understandable. The teacher wants the students to appreciate the poem and asks them to approach it in a nonacademic way in which the mere purpose of reading is not just cramming. In the later stanzas, the poet says that his attempt to induce appreciation for the art does not succeed and the students continue to pursue poetry in the same old manner.

The poet goes as far as to say that the students merely want some precise message out of it and that they think that there could only be one explanation of the poem whereas poetry is an art form which is enhanced by the interpretation of the reader.The second poem is the ‘Public Transportation’ by Elaine Sexton. The author is an emerging poet who has written a number of poems that have been very well received by the general audience and the critics alike. She conducts poetry workshops and has a passion for inculcating appreciation for this form of literature.

Sexton believes that any form of poetry has an inner and a deeper message then what can be gleaned off from the meanings of the words. Her belief is truly represented in this poem where each person has his own background and things are different from what they appear to be. The poem is written out as a story and incorporates very simple vocabulary in its stanzas making it very easy to understand. Even though the title suggests that the poem is about ‘public transportation’, it has a very deep message that everything is not as it looks.

The poem itself is an account of the protagonist as she travels in the bus and describes different aspects of it including the surroundings, the different passengers that board the bus and the bus driver. The true message of the poem however is that there is much more to a person than just his money, clothes or profession; there is a story full of emotions waiting to be untold. Works CitedCollins, B. (1996). Introduction to Poetry. Retrieved from Poets: http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/20177Sexton, E. (2003). Public Transportation.

Retrieved from Poets: http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/16444