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Nine Horses: Poems
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 811.54
EAN: 9780375755200
ISBN: 0375755209
Label: Random House Trade Paperbacks
Manufacturer: Random House Trade Paperbacks
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 144
Publication Date: October 14, 2003
Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks
Release Date: October 14, 2003
Studio: Random House Trade Paperbacks
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Editorial Review:
In Nine Horses, Billy Collins, U.S. poet laureate and author of the bestselling collection Sailing Alone Around the Room, attempts to find beauty in simplicity, but ends up achieving the simply banal. Some poems, such as "Rooms" and "Obituaries," in which readers are given freedom to draw their own conclusions, are memorable, but the language in Nine Horses has little music and thoughts are plainly stated. Animals (mostly mice and little birds) populate this sentimental journey, and they are nearly always personified, resulting in poems that sometimes read like the verse equivalent of a Thomas Kinkade print. Collins's use of the vernacular can be burdensome ("and you are certainly not the pine-scented air. / There is no way you are the pine-scented air"), but some readers may find comfort (a haven perhaps) in the author's warm, safe world. Billy Collins has become an immensely popular poet, and though Nine Horses may remain less than inspiring, its poems are certain not to offend. --Michael Ferch
In Nine Horses, Billy Collins, America’s Poet Laureate for 2001–2003, continues his delicate negotiation between the clear and the mysterious, the comic and the elegiac. The poems in this collection reach dazzling heights while being firmly grounded in the everyday. Traveling by train, lying on a beach, and listening to jazz on the radio are the seemingly ordinary activities whose hidden textures are revealed by Collins’s poetic eye. With clarity, precision, and enviable wit, Collins transforms those moments we too often take for granted into brilliant feats of creative imagination. Nine Horses is a poetry collection to savor and to share.
Nine Horses, Billy Collins's first book of new poems since Picnic, Lightning in 1998, is the latest curve in the phenomenal trajectory of this poet's career. Already in his forties when he debuted with a full-length book, The Apple That Astonished Paris, Collins has become the first poet since Robert Frost to combine high critical acclaim with broad popular appeal. And, as if to crown this success, he was appointed Poet Laureate of the United States for 2001-2002, and reappointed for 2002-2003.What accounts for this remarkable achievement is the poems themselves, quiet meditations grounded in everyday life that ascend effortlessly into eye-opening imaginative realms. These new poems, in which Collins continues his delicate negotiations between the clear and the mysterious, the comic and the elegiac, are sure to sustain and increase his audience of avid readers.Today Show Book Club April 2003 selection
"It is difficult not to be charmed by Collins, and that in itself is a remarkable literary accomplishment."
THE NEW YORK REVIEW OF BOOKS"There are brainy, observant, spit-shined moments on almost every page.... You finish feeling pleased that such a sensible and gifted man is America's Poet Laureate -- young writers have plenty to learn from his clarity and apparent ease."
THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - What?!
There is no way Michael Ferch is ever going to be the pine-scented air or any other object in the Collins universe. It's not because he's a bad person. He simply doesn't get it. The humor, that is.
Rating: - Like sitting with a friend, watching life unfold around us
I had no preconceived notions of Billy Collins when I opened "Nine Horses" and started to read the words inside. I wonder if delight is an understatement?
I am just not sure if it gets what I am trying to say exactly right and yet delight is how I feel when I read the words on the page here, it is heart and mind opening to see how Collins threads the words together.
Each poem is both highly accessible and easy to understand yet bears more meaning when breathed deeply into ... Read More
Rating: - Wonderful
This is everyone's poetry, for the English professor, the deeply dark, the poetically ignorant, hesitant beginners, and the soulful. If you've ever wanted to give a poetry book as a gift, yet knew not where to start, this is a good place. I love Billy Collins for his paradox of simple poems that are complex in meaning (if you search for it). At the risk of sounding like a love struck teenager - I love this!
Rating: - A Good Collection of Modern Poetry
Billy Collins is a very talented poet. He weaves together a collection of personal and contemplative poems that allow the reader to see how his mind works. The poems are a joy to read for their humour and clever choice of wording.
I am particular found of the poem, "Country" because it made me laugh out loud with the story he had to tell. My favorite line appeared, however, in another poem, "the marriage of knife and fork." I found this poetic and yet delightfully cheeky at the same time. ... Read More
Rating:  - So, So.
This is not his best collection. It's a little weak and his themes are becoming repetitive. It's an average collection.
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