Aimless Love

A Selection of Poems

De: Billy Collins

Narrado por: Billy Collins

DIGITAL EXCLUSIVE: Includes five additional poems only available on the digital download.

"Billy Collins puts the 'fun' back in 'profundity.' "
--Alice Fulton

From the two-term Poet Laureate of the United States Billy Collins comes his first compilation of new and selected poems in 12 years. Aimless Love combines new poems with selections from four previous books - Nine Horses, The Trouble with Poetry, Ballistics, and Horoscopes for the Dead. Collins's unmistakable voice, which brings together plain speech with imaginative surprise, is clearly heard with every word, reminding us how he has managed to enrich the tapestry of contemporary poetry and greatly expand its audience. His work is featured in top literary magazines such as The New Yorker, Poetry, and The Atlantic, and he sells out reading venues all across the country. Appearing regularly in The Best American Poetry series, his poems appeal to readers and live audiences far and wide and have been translated into more than a dozen languages. By turns playful, ironic, and serious, Collins's poetry captures the nuances of everyday life while leading the reader into zones of inspired wonder. In the poet's own words, he hopes that his poems "begin in Kansas and end in Oz." Touching on the themes of love, loss, joy, and poetry itself, these poems showcase the best work of this "poet of plenitude, irony, and Augustan grace" (The New Yorker).

Envoy

Go, little book,
out of this house and into the world,

carriage made of paper rolling toward town
bearing a single passenger
beyond the reach of this jittery pen
and far from the desk and the nosy gooseneck lamp.

It is time to decamp,
put on a jacket and venture outside,
time to be regarded by other eyes,
bound to be held in foreign hands.

So off you go, infants of the brain,
with a wave and some bits of fatherly advice:

stay out as late as you like,
don’t bother to call or write,
and talk to as many strangers as you can.

©2013 Billy Collins (P)2013 Random House

Great Poems

The poems are fantastic. It is very disappointing that the chapters are not labeled by the poems name. Otherwise it is great.

Billy is the Best!

I love listening to Billy Collins read his own poetry. His dry, understated delivery actually heightens the humor and pathos of the written poems. Always inviting and often playful, his poems nevertheless startle and provoke. Like his favorite 17-year-old daughter, we love Billy "just the way he is."

The Gift

The poems are tongue-in-cheek ; great Humor . Poet does a great job reading his ....

I love Billy Collins’ poems!

I first learned of Billy Collins when he spoke at my high school while U.S. poet laureate. His poems are taunt, and light, cutting to the core of the subject. He has given me a goal: to write as close to his measure as possible. I hope you enjoy this book as much as I. And so I return to listen again...and again.

Hearing These Poems

I've read/loved most of Billy Collins' poetry. Hearing him read it is a bonus. Heavenly.