The Names Billy Collins Analysis

The poem “The Names” is a detailed experience written around the thoughts of the writer Billy Collins as he walks around in the night after the events of September 11th 2001. The poet Billy Collins puts the readers in a different place in his poem “The Names” by the usage of imagery, diction, and ethos.
Collins use of imagery brings the reader closer to the scene of the first anniversary of the tragedy that was 9/11 by giving great detail to his personal experience. He does this by describing the situation in which he experienced while exploring the city. One of the first scenes Collins describes are the thousands of flowers that are “heavy with dew like eyes of tears” (13). This symbolism can be interpreted as the dew on the flowers is the …show more content…
Another use of imagery used by Collin was his how there were “names written in the pale sky” (32). This description of the sky reinforces how sad of a day this was for the author and the city by calling it “pale” making the scene seem as if there is no life in the sky or the city on that day. While at the same time reinforcing the scope of the tragedy by stating that not only were the names filling the city but the sky as well. Another use of Collins imagery is to describe the scene he sees as he is traveling throughout the poem. One scene that sticks out in the poem is how Collins states that there are “names silent in stone” (34). This piece of imagery is referring to the gravestones and memorials that Collins comes across as he walks around the city hitting the audience with a hard realization of the situation at hand. Finally the last piece of imagery used by Collins worth noting was actually one of the first statement made by him in the beginning of the poem. This scene being the first sight as he looks outside through a window “as droplets fell through the dark” (7). This statement takin in a literal meaning is straightforward in indicating that it is nighttime and that it is raining outside. On the