Billy Collins - The Lanyard

Complete video at: http://fora.tv/2008/04/07/A_Selection_of_Poems_by_Billy_Collins

Former U.S. Poet Laureate Billy Collins reads his poem, "The Lanyard."

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Poet Billy Collins is a unique literary figure - a widely read contemporary poet. The former US Poet Laureate and New York State Poet has received fellowships from the New York Foundation for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Guggenheim Foundation, though his most dramatic honors come from a wide and appreciative readership. Collins's poetry collections, including The Trouble With Poetry and Other Poems, Nine Horses, Sailing Alone Around the Room, and Picnic, Lightening, have broken records for poetry sales. His writing is marked by inventiveness beyond traditional poetry forms with ironic twists and lyrical turns of phrase that resonate powerfully. An advocate for integrating poetry into everyday life, Collins compiled the anthologies Poetry 180 and 180 More with poems for every day of a typical school year. Billy Collins has been a professor of English at Lehman College of the City University of New York since 1968 - City Arts & Lectures

Billy Collins is the author of several books of poetry and two anthologies of contemporary poetry, including The Trouble with Poetry: And Other Poems; The Arts of Drowning, which was a finalist for the Lenore Marshall prize; and Questions About Angels, which won the National Poetry Series in 1990. He is also a distinguished professor of English at Lehman College (CUNY). Collins served as US Poet Laureate (2001-2003) and as New York State Poet Laureate (2004-2006). Collins' poetry has appeared in The American Poetry Review, Harper's, The New Yorker, and The Atlantic, among many other journals and periodicals. He has received fellowships from the New York Foundation for the Arts, The National Endowment for the Arts, and the Guggenheim Foundation. He has won several awards and prizes.

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[ljeffrie]

A better answer: This reference is certainly to the French novelist Marcel Proust's famous novel, Remembrance of Things Past. The narrator eats a sort of "cookie" (a "Madeleine") and is fully carried away into the past. Collins's poetry is full of such literary references.

Who says French novelists are snotty?

[benjaminpoolemusic]

Hahahaha he has such a great dry sense of humor.

[aznviet93]

@doIsoundlikeicare wow, your emphasize is so concise. Reading your comment helps me understand the poem. :D

[sowosamma25]

"Most poets can´t even write a simple line, like: The dog walked down the street." ~ Charles Bukowski

[PerlaGiselle]

I cried. 

[staffordlad1]

This is a son,to his mom.

[reelizations]

Poem starts at 50 secs.

[PicturePerfectJames]

He is a treasure!

[groovymr1337]

Great poem, until I looked down and realized how absolutely awful, stuck up, and pretentious the comments are.

[sewashburn123]

to be able to transition so smoothly from sardonic wit to beautiful words that speak in earnest...billy collins, you are why i write

[BUKCOLLECTOR]

The poem is funny until the bittersweet poignant ending! For those who think the poem has a funny ending--in my opinion--mis-read it. I know some who cried--shed tears at the brilliant heartfelt ending. The lanyard had little monetary value--but it was accepted with love because it was made and given by her beloved son.

Al

[doIsoundlikeicare]

@Robbykube Just sit back. Why waste words looking for answers. Just let your jaw drop as he juxtaposes "a lanyard" (whatever it is) to the miracle of life; to maternal dedication; to a mother's love for her son, through illness, through health... and what does she ask for in return?

Just listen. Listen to what he places side by side. Listen to how he sets us up to laugh. Listen to his tone of voice. Just listen, let go, and laugh - it's alive, it soars, and it's good to the bone.