Answering Stephanie's Questions

1. Billy Collins’ intentions for writing the poem were to mock all love poems. He finally got so fed up with the repetition, that he decided to create a poem which defied all meanings of love as we as readers and writers know it.

2. The “original poem” in which Billy Collins stole the first lines of his poem are from Jacques Crickillon, a Belgian poet.

3. I think Collins respected the original poem, but became bored with the repetitive nature of love poems. This led him into composing a poem of mockery because for him, love poems are not as true as they seem. In respects to the thought of love that Crickillon conveys in his poem, I believe that Billy Collins thought the poem was good. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have chosen it to incorporate into his own poem. But in terms of content, I believe Collins was annoyed at the overuse of metaphoric love in poetry.

4. To prove that metaphoric love poems are biased and misleading, Billy Collins sates what the beloved is not. He believes that love poems only convey one side of the relationship. He wants to show all perspectives of a relationship, which includes times of distress and frustration. This is why he chooses to express his thoughts on true love.

5. The people in the audience are respectful fans of Billy Collins and since they have heard the poem once before, they understand its meaning. When Billy Collins presents the poem, he does so in a nonchalant way that proves his dislike of metaphoric love poems even further. The audience responds to this with laughter because they perceive the situation in the same light as Billy Collins does and agrees with him.

6. This poem is not truly a love poem in the way our standard society would describe one. Instead of expressing his admiration and confounded wonder of a magnificent woman, Billy Collins suggests otherwise of his own beloved. He degrades her while comparing her to only some things, and not to others.