In this flash the person sees a quick summary of their life. The Art of Drowning. Collins wonders where the idea of one’s life flashing before their eyes before they die came from and whether or not it is something that really happens in an unfortunate death. The Art of Drowning by Billy Collins. Title: The Art of Drowning <>Binding: Paperback <>Author: BillyCollins <>Publisher: UniversityofPittsburghPress JSTOR and the Poetry Foundation are collaborating to digitize, preserve, and extend access to Poetry. This “word” is itself a poem, but set aside from the rest of the book. Collins was born in 1941 in New York City. He writes his poems in free verse. The first and second stanzas contain five lines and the third, fourth and fifth: six lines. The Art of Drowning [Collins, Billy] on Amazon.com. A collection of poems offers insights into common … Poem. THE ART OF DROWNING By Billy Collins Pittsburg: University of Pittsburg Press, 1995 ISBN # 0-8229-3893-6 95 pages. I wonder how it all got started, this business. Comments by Bob Corbett March 2011. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. As the poet’s character plunges beneath the surface to his watery grave, a quick depiction of a long life is cycled through his mind. Billy Collins' poetry makes one smile. I read his most recent work, Horoscopes for the Dead, and it enjoyed it so much that I went back to find an older work called The Art of Drowning and found it almost as entertaining. Type of address- A reflection Collins Uses a series of 3 questions within poem These help to address the reader, reflect on idea, stress point, and create a rhythm. My reflection question: Living life to the fullest? while you drown, as if panic, or the act of submergence, could startle time into such compression, crushingdecades in the vice of your desperate, final seconds.. Most of Collins' work is about everyday things so they are accessible to almost everyone. ‘The Art of Drowning’ by Billy Collins is a five stanza poem that is separated into uneven sets of lines. It is the poetry of the moment- usually funny and surprising. William James "Billy" Collins (born March 22, 1941) is an American poet, appointed as Poet Laureate of the United States from 2001 to 2003. His various wonderfully named collections of poetry include Video Poems, Pokerface, Questions About Angels, The Art of Drowning, The Apple That Astonished Paris, Taking Off Emily Dickinson’s Clothes and Picnic, Lightning. “The Art of Drowning” by Billy Collins is a nicely written poem about what happens as someone is approaching a quick, untimely death such as drowning. Collins’s credentials, despite starting a career as a poet at the late age of forty, are impressive indeed. The Art of Drowning is a book of poetry by the American Poet Laureate Billy Collins, first published in 1995. The Best Cigarette by Billy Collins. I can truthfully say that I have a favorite poet and his name is Billy Collins. .There are many that I misshaving sent my last one out a car windowsparking along the road one night years ago.. In movies or shows when a character is about to die, there is typically a moment when the person sees a quick flash before their eyes. Billy Collins was the Poet Laureate of the United States from 2001 to 2003. Dubbed “the most popular poet in America” by Bruce Weber in the New York Times, Billy Collins is famous for conversational, witty poems that welcome readers with humor but often slip into quirky, tender, or profound observation on the everyday, reading and writing, and poetry itself. Billy Collins open with a word to the reader. ... Billy Collins . John Updike described the collection as "Lovely poems—lovely in a way almost nobody's since [Theodore] Roethke's are. I wonder how it all got started, this business about seeing your life flash before your eyes while you drown, as if panic, or the act of submergence, could startle time into such compression, crushing decades in the vice of your desperate, final seconds.