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Billy Collins

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Also known as William James Collins

American poet (born 1941)

Person · Open Library

Works
62

Top works

  • Prentice Hall Literature
  • Bartlett's poems for occasions
  • Dog Show
  • Metropolis Found
  • Bright Wings An Illustrated Anthology Of Poems About Birds

via Open Library + Wikidata

Music · MusicBrainz

Type
Person
Gender
Male
Origin
United Kingdom
Active from
1951-01-30
adult contemporaryaorart popbritisheasy listeningpop

via MusicBrainz · CC0

Listeners · Last.fm

Listeners
4,018
Total plays
35,902

Tags

spoken wordpoetryUSA

Billy Collins is an ex-poet laureate of the United States, who writes about simple everyday moments and things in a poignant way. He began "Poetry 180" during his term as poet-laureate to bring the enjoyment of reading poetry back into high school. His most recent collection of poetry is called The Trouble with Poetry. <a href="https://www.last.fm/music/Billy+Collins">Read more on Last.fm</a>

via Last.fm · Billy Collins

Quotes

  • But tomorrow, dawn will come the way I picture her,barefoot and disheveled, standing outside my windowin one of the fragile cotton dresses of the poor.She will look in at me with her thin arms extended,offering a handful of birdsong and a small cup of light.
  • I love the sound of the bone against the plateand the fortress-like look of itlying before me in a moat of risotto,the meat soft as the leg of an angelwho has lived a purely airborne existence.And best of all, the secret marrow,the invaded privacy of the animalprized out with a knife and wallowed downwith cold, exhilarating wine.
  • But tonight, the lion of contentment has placed a warm heavy paw on my chest.
  • You will always be the bread and the knife, not to mention the crystal goblet and — somehow — the wine.
  • This is the beginning.Almost anything can happen.This is where you findthe creation of light, a fish wriggling onto land,the first word of Paradise Lost on an empty page.Think of an egg, the letter A,a woman ironing on a bare stageas the heavy curtain rises.This is the very beginning.
  • The complexity of women's undergarments in nineteenth-century America is not to be waved off, and I proceeded like a polar explorer through clips, clasps, and moorings, catches, straps, and whalebone stays, sailing toward the iceberg of her nakedness.

via Wikiquote · CC BY-SA

Wikidata facts

Instance of
human
Given name
William
Family name
Collins
Gender
male
Citizenship
United States
Place of birth
Manhattan
Languages spoken
English language
Field of work
English studies
Official website
www.bestcigarette.us
Image
Billy Collins.jpg
Show 4 more facts
date of birth
1941-03-22
Commons category
Billy Collins
Sources (6)

via Wikidata · CC0