Hunger

[halynamyroslava]

Warm thanks

[ae1lisahaha]

Is it a fox?

[megakid39]

Lol school...

[FrogBlasters]

I'm surprised by the lack of intelligent comments, but I guess it is youtube. I think the only part that is not up for interpretation in this poem is the image of the ultimate hunger of being certain of gratification to find it has eluded you. When you get home with your sack, you realise you are a fool, believing you were strong when you were merely proud and ignorant, and because of your ignorance, you will go hungry. What its elements can be substituted for is up for interpretation.

[reyonicko]

pppptttfffff i thought it was

[MOTHMANESYKK]

LOL HOLY SHIT

[Islandbratha]

Nice...

[erikmabry]

powerful words...

[johnfiftyone]

emo shit

[AliMcCann1010101]

I think it's "sudden lightness" not "sun lightens".

[hcronos]

if i were him i'll be seeding my P-226 as i walk back to my small cottage. and if the fox jump me, well let just say he'll have more hole and a swiss cheese...stupid fox

[OzTerri]

hey l,

[bennude10]

That monotone voice and atmospheric ambiance, gets under your skin. Leave your fear on edge.

I Love it.

[Crazyfish66]

Yes we all believe your such an important individual and the 42 seconds meant everything to you... oh no wait, your browsing videos on youtube, fuck off.

[stephantom]

@Crazyfish66 ?

[velvetonomatopoeia]

@Crazyfish66

nothing like good old-fashion emotional invalidation

please, spare us the all sensativity it might actually make me feel something

[JusticeForHungarians]

depressive

[allyourevilbase]

hello ,story.ill eat ur soul.ha ha ha

[wordsandtricks]

atmospheric! sinister!

i shiver as a walk back to my small cottage.

[remedy63]

"They won't break me because the desire for freedom, and the freedom of the Irish people, is in my heart. The day will dawn when all the people of Ireland will have the desire for freedom to show. It is then that we will see the rising of the moon."

"They have nothing in their whole imperial arsenal that can break the spirit of one Irishman who doesn't want to be broken."

"Our revenge will be the laughter of our children."

- Bobby Sands

[oldfeature9]

PERFECT* but how did you write those words in wall and floor what software did you use

[meanderingspark]

very interesting. i like that you chose not to strictly "illustrate"/follow the images in the poem on this one. the empty images work really well - like the fox is out of the bag, so the people are absent from the city.

[Dxox82]

I didnt get how he related hunger the poem.

[DecodingDoom]

the guy's a hunter

he's gunna go hungry, duh

[Osteomorphis]

But is it metaphorical? The fox wouldn't have escaped with a knife nor would the forest cover the whole world. What does the fox represent? Hunger?

[kowalityjesus]

STOP THE ADVERTISEMENTS

not at all necessary, whatsoever.

yes there is ground to stand on in favor of redundancy.

otherwise, interesting material it hiu be screamed from the mountaintop of kilamanjaro

[MasterJessav]

That was cool and scary

[BOBSTAHL]

Hunger is an obscenity and hunger in America is the ultimate obscenity.

[TheRealFatShiney]

its about god

[scottiez171]

Whats Wrong With The Pitch?

[magicpencil43]

i think it's a poem about a man carrying a fox.

[jazbatee]

i dont think i'll ever get it on my own now. i need training to be able to decode poetry again. i used to be good at it in highschool cuz of fantastic teachers.

[Draco86x]

So whats for dinner?

[develupa]

basically i see that as people thinking that things like liberalism, individualism, reason, technological progression, etc. are saving us... and that sudden strength is that illusion of our world actually being a better place, when really it's not.

[develupa]

Yep. I have it figured. Right, so the person holding the sack is those who are trying to save the world with their ideological salvation methods (liberalism, invisible hand, globalization, &c.), the fox is that salvation (equality, liberty, marxist ideas of salvation), but it has escaped. The cottage is our home, city, town, village, and the forest covers the world because this metaphor affects us all, globally. Salvation is strained after, but not attained. So we are left wanting—hungry. Good?

[LyricalTampon]

There's no right answer.

[develupa]

that's fair... art is often interpretive, after all. This is just what I've made it to be.

[lonewolf7999]

Yah! It taught me a lesson?!?! I guess?!?!

[hardstreetbambi]

i still don't fully get it, i keep thinking i've grasped it, but i can't get a full picture of what it is about. it is a beautiful poem to me anyway, even though i can't work it out yet.

[silasiscool]

Same for me but I must think that I get the first part quite well.

[blueyedarabgirl]

hii

[Shetasen]

Where you open your sack to find your fox gone.

No dinner.

[lowiewannacracker]

metaphorical description of what people will do in order to become satisfied, and the reprocutions or dangers following?

[XmetalmikeX]

what??

[welovetea]

Whoa, that was intense.

[gotgosu]

lol that's fuckin stupid

[ShiningPie]

scary, powerful and insidious. the kind of poem that changes lives...

[missuscake]

Thats pretty amazing I really like that alot.

It creeped me out at the same time but it was awesome.

[Djsmartiepants]

no, its billy collins narrorating.

[progress2007]

best video in the series

love the pictures

[BlackCatCadillac]

JWTNY:

your description should read, "the sudden lightness" instead of "the sun lightens." there's also no comma there.

[dwelleroftheclouds]

loved the whole concept of the video. ;P

[shonatiger]

well i think yr great, billy collins, whoever u r.. and yr "animator" too...

[tubes304]

Thats a fucking great metaphor with the fox and the sack, but i don't get the forest thing.

[crazycrazycrazy1]

well maybe it's because the forest is full of foxes, and you're walking right past them, ignoring them...

[chupashuevos]

badass.. but the end left me wanting a couple more lines to wrap it all up

[zmac311]

Brilliant and creepy.

You guys keep bringing up the forest that covers the whole part...

I think the fox is coming after you, and the forest is his territory. The forest covers the whole world so there is nowhere to run from the fox.

[Snarlpu]

this is the best poem-video combination of any of the collins videos, methinks

[lancaster333]

I have a different interpretation of this poem. Let's say e.g. the person in the poem is the United States and the fox is some muslim country we abused. The person in the poem feels strong and thinks he's safe after capturing the fox as he walks home through this forest but little does he know that the fox he was about to eat has escaped and is now in the same forest and has a knife. Should the person feel safe?

[ivandakine]

some muslim country we abused, take your liberal bullshit and go fuck yourself.

this poem is vague but clever.

[lancaster333]

Let me give a micro example you may like better: You can't take advantage of or abuse people without there being consequences.

[ivandakine]

true, but we have difference of opinion on who the abuser is, besides i don't think that is what this poem is about. it is too abstact, but what is interesting is that it stirs emotion, thinking and conversation, in that sense, it is a great poem. the editor of silvia plaths books stated that silvia did not care if you got the poem or not, if the reader is inspired by a metaphor or word, that was fine for her. this poet is very similar. i like his work.

[dammee]

very interesting...maybe if he didnt capture the fox in the first place he wouldnt be in this mess

[violin94]

i fucking love this :O

[clayLavl]

i've just had an "a-ha" moment (this is what they say in Zen.) i'm speechless...that's how good this is.

[greenchickenfries]

amAZing

[FallenThomas]

i dont live in a cottage!

[jamontoast]

if the forest covered the world, where would you build the cottage?

[dietfacts]

If the forest covered the world, you could build the cottage anywhere. There would be wood-a-plenty, space-a-plenty. (Alas the forest does not cover the world... oceans and oceans of people do instead.)

[jamontoast]

then he wouldnt be going 'through' the forest he would just be.. in it.. im a pedantic bastard me :P

[wolfy02]

Beautiful. Clever fox. One day I will catch my fox and eat it too.

[dietfacts]

A little error... in the description it reads "the sun lightens" but it should be "the sudden lightness". :)

Great poem. Great visuals. Thanks.

[Babybluu16]

deep

[mohammedemad]

your whole videos are very cool

[Grayzone]

Nice visual effects, but what the fuck, I can write better poetry than that...I mean I'm no expert, but I'm pretty sure this poem had no point.

[ArsenicJulep]

Do be sure to let us know when *you* become the poet laureate, and people pay $30 a seat to listen to you read your poetry.

[Grayzone]

Destroy my social life and give me vague prompts to write about and we'll see what happens.

[sssNitro]

so did he starve to death in his small cottage ?

[sssNitro]

so did he starve to death ?

[richragsdale]

very cool

[hardstreetbambi]

how did the fox get a knife?

[persephika]

The fox having a knife obviously turns the fox into a symbol standing for....somthing, I'm not sure of what tho. That's the key to the interpretation of the poem.

[Trac3kill]

Our hunger drives us to capture and kill, gives us a feeling of superiority but when the fox (symbolic of 'slyness' in almost every aspect of literature) outwits us, we don't even notice, and take it to mean that we ourselves have accomplished more (became stronger).

[drossonvinyl]

It's gorgeous.

[fernygurl]

huh?

[bergerstack]

stupid again

[fernygurl]

why would anyone bother making this?

[Shrog1]

Why would anybody ask this question?

[iluvDNA]

this poem combined with his voice and the graphics-- it's just chilling. it almost makes you hurt. awesome. it is a shame that the text is not correct, though.

[uNdEnIaBlYiNsAnE]

I actually read your comment before I listened to the poem, and I'm glad I did, or else I probably wouldn't have gotten it xD

[imfrenchme17]

sudden lightness, not "the sun lightens" like in the text

[DomPody]

The text in the info box is incorrect. It should read:

"The fox you lug over your shoulder in a dark sack has cut a hole with a knife and escaped. The sudden lightness makes you think you are stronger as you walk back to your small cottage through a forest that covers the world."

[Stroopinator]

If you don't understand this video, don't eat for 24 hours, then watch it.

You'll get it then.

[dasbacon]

i still don't get it

[unrepentent]

William J. ("Billy") Collins (born March 22, 1941) is an American poet who served two terms as the 44th Poet Laureate of the United States, from 2001 to 2003. In his home state, Collins has been recognized as a Literary Lion of the New York Public Library and selected as the New York State Poet for 2004.

Yes, he's reading these.

[SirRadio]

Are these poems being read by Billy Collins? I do not know what he sounds like, but the audio on these vids sounds like that weird computer voice that reads things back to you. It has that strange, robotic intonation. If it is him reading, he should change his delivery. If the poems are being read through that weird computer voice, he should just stop posting them.

[sunboyNo16]

Yeah, I thought the same about how the voice sounded robotical, but its not annoying at all, it actually fits with the feelings with the poem and their words. Don't be so picky.

[methariel]

Take a look at the other Billy Collins vids around, same voice in every single one.

[goldfishteller]

i think is computer voice

[ArsenicJulep]

Yes, this is Billy Collins reading. Compared to all the car salesmen shouting in commercials, it might sound robotic, but it's more just about letting the words speak for themselves.

[sunboyNo16]

Exactly, I agree with you.

[NekoVio]

it's sunlightness not sunlightens....

[KayToTheT]

I don't get this one. I think his others are better. =)

[wannabebatman]

wow that was really good Before this i never een heard of him ...but these are really good

[acklesbabe007]

This one actually kind of freaked me out. But that's not a bad thing. I love the rush of adrenaline. (sp)?

[MCRFANABC]

actually..yes, i am emo, lol

[ImSpecial888]

Lovin' the poem and love the animation ! :D

[MCRFANABC]

I. Don't. Like. You. You. Are. Scary. Two words-OBBSESSION WITH DEATH!

[ClassicRocker623]

*ahemthreewordsahem*

[deathgaraa123]

man wtf? your an emo arent you!

[SFLogicNinja]

Absolute genius

[Laemmerhirt]

I love this! Only one thing: In the description it says 'the sun lightens', but in the video it's 'the sudden lightness'.

[DLehrke]

it's the sudden lightness in both the video and the audio... what are you talking about?

[BCKBCK]

It's in the text that describes the file. Click on (more) and see.

[Blackjellyfish]

I have not seen something that moves me this much in a long time.

[AndrewsJoseph]

I agree. Cool username by the way ;)