Imagery
This sense is engaged when the speaker asks students to “press an ear against its hive.”
What is hearing or sound?
The poem is filled with this type of comparison that doesn’t use “like” or “as.”
What is a metaphor?
The poem criticizes students for trying to do this to poetry instead of appreciating it.
What is beat it or force a meaning out of it?
The shift from gentle images to harsh ones shows a change in this.
What is tone or mood?
The poem is written in this form, which does not follow a rhyme or meter pattern.
What is free verse?
The image of “dropping a mouse into a poem” appeals most to this sense.
What is touch?
What fig. language is in the lines "...and hold it up to the light like a color slide"
What is a similie?
The speaker compares reading poetry to fun activities like waterskiing to show that poems can be this.
What is playful or exciting?
The tone of the speaker toward students who overanalyze poetry can best be described as this.
What is frustrated or upset (or anything along those lines)?
The free-verse form allows Collins to focus more on this element rather than strict poetic rules.
What is imagery or voice?
The poem’s mention of “a light switch” suggests exploring poetry through this sense.
What is sight?
What fig. language is in the lines "But all they want to do is tie the poem to a chair with rope and torture a confession out of it"
What is personification?
The speaker wants students to enjoy poetry by doing this.
What is exploring or experiencing it?
The mood created by the early imagery of discovery (“press an ear,” “hold it up to the light”) is one of this.
What is curiosity in learning/teaching/experiencing?
The poem is made up of several short groups of lines called this.
What are stanzas?
“Hold it up to the light like a color slide” is an image that connects to this everyday classroom tool.
What is a projector (or slide viewer)?
The speaker’s use of “waterskiing across the surface of a poem” is an example of this type of figurative language.
What is metaphor?
Through its imagery of violence, the poem implies that over-analysis can do this to poetry’s beauty.
What is destroy or suffocate it or ruin it?
The mood shifts in the final lines to this darker feeling.
What is violence or despair?
The contrast between short metaphors and the harsh final image provides this kind of structural change.
What is a shift?
The final image of students “beating it with a hose” contrasts sharply with earlier, gentler images to emphasize this idea about how people mistreat poetry. (main theme of the poem)
What is overanalyzing poetry instead of enjoying it?
The act of “beating it with a hose to find out what it really means” is an example of this figure of speech showing violence toward interpretation.
What is hyperbole (exaggeration to make a point)?
The speaker’s attitude toward poetry shows he values this kind of learning.
What is creative or being open-minded while learning?
The poem’s changing mood (from playful to serious) helps show this message about poetry.
What is that poetry should be enjoyed and not forced to give answers?
The poem ends abruptly after a contrasting image, which serves to highlight this key idea about interpretation.
What is the danger of overanalyzing or killing the joy of poetry?