'Among the best poems that Collins has ever written' – NPR
In more than sixty new poems, 'America's favourite poet' (New York Times) Billy Collins writes with joy and wonder about the beauty and irony of daily life. The best poetry, he believes, begins with clarity and ends in mystery, and in Water, Water we encounter a writer endlessly astonished by the world all around. Turning his eye to the cat drinking from the swimming pool or the nurse calling your name in the waiting room or the astronaut reading Emily Dickinson while orbiting earth, Collins captures the images and moments that mean so much more than they might initially seem. With a voice both simple and melodic, hospitable and lyrical, his poetry asks each of us to slow down and notice the commonplace in order to discover the sublime.
'Witty, wry and tender when it hurts, Water, Water is a pleasure to read and easy to give' – The Washington Post
Publisher: Pan Macmillan
ISBN: 9781035068708
Number of pages: 144
Dimensions: 197 x 153 mm
Collins is his own most eloquent critic. In a poem bearing the stripped down title of, "Your Poem," he suggests that one of the go-to emotions in his work is: "buoyant ease in the shadow of mortality". This whole collection is filled with poems that strike that rare attitude. And, some of them, like "Emily Dickinson in Space," are among the best poems that Collins has ever written. - NPR
America's favourite poet - Wall Street Journal
Billy Collins 'puts the "fun" back in 'profundity' - Alice Fulton
Billy Collins’ medium is a rare amalgam of accessibility and intelligence. I’d follow this man’s mind anywhere. Expect to be surprised - Michael Donaghy
Chatty, witty, wholly dependable - Guardian
Collins remains the most companionable of poetic companions - New York Times
The treat of treats. Unlike the wedding guest waylaid by Coleridge's Ancient Mariner, the reader emerges from encounters with Collins as a wiser and far happier person - New Statesman
'A writer . . . fully aware of his work’s power to delight - New York Times
A poet of plenitude, irony, and Augustan grace - New Yorker
Billy Collins is one of my favourite poets in the world - Carol Ann Duffy
Delightfully direct, he won’t lose you in his lyricism but will transport you to a better place - The Times
The most popular poet in America - New York Times
Billy Collins writes lovely poems . . . Limpid, gently and consistently startling, more serious than they seem, they describe all the worlds that are and were and some others besides - John Updike
Smart, his strings tuned and resonant, his wonderful eye looping over the things, events and ideas of the world, rueful, playful, warm voiced, easy to love - Annie Proulx
Imaginative thinking gives this collection its richness.... The work also shows a variety of styles...[that] provide both pleasure and a vivid example of how one's thoughts, when unrestrained, can lead to unexpected destinations - Washington Post
Funny but serious, accessible but rich in meaning, consistently surprising – the world looks slightly different after reading a Billy Collins poem. He’s a one-off, an American treasure - Nick Laird
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