A wondrous new collection of poems focused on the joy and mystery of daily life, from the former United States Poet Laureate and New York Times bestselling author of Aimless Love.
'Among the best poems that Collins has ever written' - NPRIn Water, Water Billy Collins writes with joy and wonder about the beauties and ironies of everyday life. The best poems, he believes, begin in clarity and end with a hint of the sublime: A cat learns to drink from a swimming pool. An astronaut recites Emily Dickinson in space. Here is a writer devotedly in love with the world around him, fascinated by its pleasures but generously sensitive of its pains.Ever a laureate of the oblique, Collins is especially sensitive to disappearances and acts of concealment, sketching objects by the outlines their absence leaves: 'Everything in this hard place', reflects one voice in 'Crying in Class', 'is designed to disappear.' From grief's soft echoes, to the atheist equally afraid of heaven and hell, Collins remains as keenly vigilant of the light as he does the shadows which dance at its edges.'A poet of plenitude, irony, and Augustan grace' The New Yorker'Witty, wry and tender when it hurts, Water, Water is a pleasure to read and easy to give' - The Washington Post
Collins is his own most eloquent critic. In a poem bearing the stripped down title of, "Your Poem," he suggests that one of the go-to emotions in his work is: "buoyant ease in the shadow of mortality". This whole collection is filled with poems that strike that rare attitude. And, some of them, like "Emily Dickinson in Space," are among the best poems that Collins has ever written. NPR
America's favourite poet Wall Street Journal
Billy Collins’ medium is a rare amalgam of accessibility and intelligence. I’d follow this man’s mind anywhere. Expect to be surprised -- Michael Donaghy, Forward Prize-winning author of Conjure
Billy Collins is one of my favourite poets in the world -- Carol Ann Duffy, former Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom
Chatty, witty, wholly dependable Guardian
Smart, his strings tuned and resonant, his wonderful eye looping over the things, events and ideas of the world, rueful, playful, warm voiced, easy to love -- Annie Proulx, author of Brokeback Mountain
Funny but serious, accessible but rich in meaning, consistently surprising – the world looks slightly different after reading a Billy Collins poem. He’s a one-off, an American treasure -- Nick Laird, author of Up Late
Collins remains the most companionable of poetic companions New York Times
The treat of treats. Unlike the wedding guest waylaid by Coleridge's Ancient Mariner, the reader emerges from encounters with Collins as a wiser and far happier person New Statesman
'A writer . . . fully aware of his work’s power to delight New York Times
A poet of plenitude, irony, and Augustan grace New Yorker
Delightfully direct, he won’t lose you in his lyricism but will transport you to a better place The Times
Billy Collins 'puts the "fun" back in 'profundity' -- Alice Fulton
The most popular poet in America New York Times
Billy Collins writes lovely poems . . . Limpid, gently and consistently startling, more serious than they seem, they describe all the worlds that are and were and some others besides -- John Updike
Imaginative thinking gives this collection its richness.... The work also shows a variety of styles...[that] provide both pleasure and a vivid example of how one's thoughts, when unrestrained, can lead to unexpected destinations Washington Post
Billy Collins is the author of numerous poetry collections, including Taking Off Emily Dickinson's Clothes, Whale Day, and Horoscopes for the Dead. He has received fellowships from the New York Foundation for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts and the Guggenheim Foundation. A professor of English at Lehman College, he was appointed Poet Laureate of the United States for 2001 to 2003, and Poet Laureate of New York State from 2004 to 2006. In 2016 he was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He lives with his wife in Westchester County, NY.
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