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Article: The Art of Drowning.(Review)
- Article from:
- Poetry
- Article date:
- February 1, 2000
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2000 Modern Poetry Association. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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The Art of Drowning, by Billy Collins. University of Pittsburgh Press. $12.95.
Billy Collins sometimes sees his life "as a finger piercing / a smoke ring, casual, inquisitive," and this delicate, playful image might just as well stand for the man's poetry, itself a charming mixture of irony, wit, musing, and tenderness for the everyday. Rarely has anyone written poems that appear so transparent on the surface yet become so ambiguous, thought-provoking or simply wise once the reader has peered into the depths. Collins's pellucid style greatly facilitates this kind of meditative peering into the unknown, yet this clarity is hard-won. It takes a sure hand indeed to ...