Forgetfulness Analysis

The name of the author is the first to go
followed obediently by the title, the plot,
the heartbreaking conclusion, the entire novel
which suddenly becomes one you have never read,
never even heard of,

as if, one by one, the memories you used to harbor
decided to retire to the southern hemisphere of the brain,
to a little fishing village where there are no phones.

Long ago you kissed the names of the nine Muses goodbye
and watched the quadratic equation pack its bag,
and even now as you memorize the order of the planets,

something else is slipping away, a state flower perhaps,
the address of an uncle, the capital of Paraguay.

Whatever it is you are struggling to remember,
it is not poised on the tip of your tongue,
not even lurking in some obscure corner of your spleen.

It has floated away down a dark mythological river
whose name begins with an L as far as you can recall,
well on your own way to oblivion where you will join those
who have even forgotten how to swim and how to ride a bicycle.

No wonder you rise in the middle of the night
to look up the date of a famous battle in a book on war.
No wonder the moon in the window seems to have drifted
out of a love poem that you used to know by heart.

.: :.

This poem "Forgetfulness" is talking about man's biggest vulnerability which incidentally happens to be his brain. As the years go by one's memories slip and so do we. That is it in the nut shell basically. Billy Collins uses a light-hearted apporach to how one can distance himself from the most beautiful memories of life. He does not do a good job of being very clear though. I mean the main point is obvious at first but very few inferences can be made. If it were for more detail then it would be better. Also I just noticed that this poem is actually a prose.

| Posted on 2008-11-25 | by a guest

.: :.

This poem "Forgetfulness" is talking about man's biggest vulnerability which incidentally happens to be his brain. As the years go by one's memories slip and so do we. That is it in the nut shell basically. Billy Collins uses a light-hearted apporach to how one can distance himself from the most beautiful memories of life. He does not do a good job of being very clear though. I mean the main point is obvious at first but very few inferences can be made. If it were for more detail then it would be better. Also I just noticed that this poem is actually a prose.

| Posted on 2008-11-25 | by a guest