Analysis of Forgetfullness, by Billy Collins Essay

This poem is really easy to identify with. The first 4 stanzas atomic number 18 clearly relating the reader to the poem. Everyone at rough point has to learn these general, seemingly useless facts. A state vertex The capital of Paraguay so arbitrary, but so true in that this brings backside memories of 3rd or 5th grade for almost all of us, it is environ to strike a chord with the reader. This is also coupled with a fairly nostalgic loss of these facts in the first stanza, as slowly the individual sections of a book (that you as the reader once clearly enjoyed) are systematically removed from your memory by time. because the tone shifts from reflectivity about facts we dont remember, to our inability to remember them. It begins to get darker. This is reclaimable contrast from the imagery that the reader experiences during the first few stanzas, remembering childhood, and innocence. set is the now darker mythological river described as vague that, dauntingly, is leading to oblivion. The desperate tone thus has that much more impact as we make our way to our own oblivion or death, where we will join the out of work those who have even forgotten how to swim and how to ride a bicycle. Then Collins provides a justification for our wanting to remember, wanting to enrich our either moment, as soon memories will be pointless. Really, in the end this is providing a more inherent worth to memories than they ever had before, because of the fleeting nature of vitality that Collins describes. Not in a fun, youthful carpe diem way, Collins is present how short we have to live. Only from this presentation can the reader wherefore make the leap that we ought to cherish these good memories, and make good memories, such as the moon (out of the) love poem in the closing lines of the work.