'Introduction to Poetry' - Billy Collins

In the poem Introduction to Poetry, the narrator uses figurative language to better explain how he wants us to view and read poetry. In the first ten lines, the narrator uses five metaphors to argue how we should read poems. He states: "I want them to water-ski/ across the surface of a poem/ waving at the author's name on the shore" (8-10). The narrator wants readers to glaze over the poem like a jet-ski would glaze over a lake. He does not want the authors to go any deeper than the surface. He wants them only to read the poem for its most basic meaning and form. However, the readers do not want to do this. According to the narrator, 'all [the readers] want to do/ is tie the poem to a chair with rope/ and torture a confession out of it/ They begin beating it with a hose/ to find out what it really means" (12-16). The readers want only to analyze the poem deeply and look for some inner meaning, against the want of the narrator. The narrator tries to easily explain his views on poetry and how it should be read through metaphors, however he also knows that people want to read poetry to analyze it, not to enjoy it for what it is on the surface.