A review by daniell
Horoscopes for the Dead by Billy Collins

4.0

Collins masterfully intersects accessibility, wit, and meaning.

Accessibility

There are no complex forms or strange words used in this book. There are no high conceits, no metaphysics, and no experiences depicted that a given reader might not know themselves.

Collins anchors his subjects in concrete objects and accompanying verbs. Abstraction and stillness are two ways to make poetry suck, and he consistently avoids both.

The downside of accessibility is that it indicates Poetry for Everybody, and near-universal conceits are not always desirable. Those with few objectors deserve scrutiny; beware the entertainer, the enchanter, the hypnotist.

Wit

To wit, here's an example of concrete objects and accompanying verbs, my favorite poem from this work, also a fine example of his wit.

Hangover

If I were crowned emperor this morning,
every child who is playing Marco Polo
in the swimming pool of this motel,
shouting the name Marco Polo back and forth

Marco Polo Marco Polo

would be required to read a biography
of Marco Polo-a long one with fine print-
as well as a history of China and of Venice,
the birthplace of the venerated explorer

Marco Polo Marco Polo

after which each child would be quizzed
by me then executed by drowning
regardless how much they managed
to retain about the glorious life and times of

Marco Polo Marco Polo

Collins is not always this funny, but his wit comes out in ways similar to this throughout this book, though in a less-pronounced way.

Meaning

Poetic meaning can be found when a poet's presented experience reduplicates the reader's similar experience. The theme of this book is, as the title suggests, various takes on death. Death may not seem to relate to his subjects immediately, but even those playing Marco Polo in a hotel pool replicate a kind of Hell-of-repetition for the prisoner narrator. Other topics include ancestors (Poem on the Three Hundredth Anniversary of the Trinity School) and progeny (My Unborn Children), both of which are easily considered by anyone ("What of those before? What of those to come?").

If I hadn't already returned this book I would do more explication.

Alas, it is for naught, and like Collins' subjects this review must too taste death. Horoscopes for the Dead is easily worth the price of admission; consider this a recommendation.