The Art of Drowning

by Collins, Billy

• ISBN13: 9780822955672
• ISBN10: 0822955679
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1995-06-15
• Publisher: Univ of Pittsburgh Pr

Summary

Billy Collins's poetry has been described by Gerald Stern as "heartbreakingly beautiful." Annie Proulx admits, "I have never before felt possessive about a poet, but I am fiercely glad that Billy Collins is ours." The "New York Times calls him simply "the real thing." Over the past decade, Collins has garnered critical acclaim and broad popular appeal. To celebrate his years as U.S. Poet Laureate, the three books that helped establish and secure his reputation during the 1990s--"Questions About Angels; The Art of Drowning; and "Picnic, Lightning--are now available in special, limited edition hardcovers as well as in paperback.

Author Biography

Billy Collins, named U.S. Poet Laureate in June 2001 and reappointed to the post in 2002, has published seven collections of poetry, including The Apple That Astonished Paris; Nine Horses; Picnic, Lightning; Questions About Angels; and Sailing Alone Around the Room. A professor of English at Lehman College of the City University of New York, he lives in Somers, New York

Table of Contents

Dear Reader	3	(4)
I
Consolation	7	(1)
Osso Buco	8	(2)
Directions	10	(2)
Influence	12	(2)
Water Table	14	(2)
Reading in a Hammock	16	(1)
Print	17	(1)
Sunday Morning with the Sensational Nightingales	18	(2)
Cheers	20	(2)
The Best Cigarette	22	(2)
Metropolis	24	(2)
Days	26	(1)
Tuesday, June 4, 1991	27	(6)
II
The Art of Drowning	33	(1)
Canada	34	(2)
The Biography of a Cloud	36	(2)
Death Beds	38	(2)
Conversion	40	(1)
Horizon	41	(1)
The City of Tomorrow	42	(2)
Thesaurus	44	(2)
Fiftieth Birthday Eve	46	(2)
On Turning Ten	48	(2)
Shadow	50	(1)
Workshop	51	(6)
III
Keats's Handwriting	57	(2)
Budapest	59	(1)
My Heart	60	(1)
Romanticism	61	(2)
Monday Morning	63	(1)
Dancing Toward Bethlehem	64	(1)
The First Dream	65	(1)
Sweet Talk	66	(1)
Dream	67	(1)
Man in Space	68	(1)
Philosophy	69	(2)
While Eating a Pear	71	(1)
The End of the World	72	(2)
Center	74	(1)
Design	75	(4)
IV
The Invention of the Saxophone	79	(2)
Medium	81	(2)
Driving Myself to a Poetry Reading	83	(1)
Pinup	84	(2)
Piano Lessons	86	(3)
Exploring the Coast of Birdland	89	(2)
The Blues	91	(1)
Nightclub	92	(2)
Some Final Words	94