Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

In "American Sonnet" by Billy Collins, the poet reimagines the traditional sonnet form, not through strict adherence to its conventional structures, but by embracing the essence of modern, everyday experiences. This poem reflects on the way contemporary communication, specifically through postcards, serves as a vessel for expressing emotions and sharing experiences, drawing a parallel to how sonnets historically compacted profound sentiments into a concise poetic form. Collins's work cleverly subverts and expands the sonnet tradition, suggesting that the spirit of the sonnet can be found in the simplest forms of communication, such as the picture postcard.

The poem begins by distancing itself from the formal characteristics associated with classic sonnets written by poets like Petrarch and Spenser. Collins notes that modern expressions of feeling do not conform to the fourteen lines of a sonnet, likened to "furrows in a small, carefully plowed field." This imagery evokes the structured, deliberate nature of traditional sonnet writing, which is contrasted with the more spontaneous and casual form of the postcard—a "poem on vacation." This comparison suggests a liberation from the constraints of formality, embracing a more accessible and immediate mode of sharing one's thoughts and feelings.

Collins describes the postcard as forcing individuals to express their emotions in "little rooms" or condense them into "measuring cups," highlighting the challenge of capturing the vastness of one's experiences within a limited space. This constraint mirrors the sonnet's structural limitations, where the potency of expression must be distilled into a few lines. The backdrop of a "waterfall or lake" on the postcard serves as a canvas for the sender's sentiments, which are as formulaic as an "Elizabethan woman's heliocentric eyes," suggesting that even within the bounds of cliché, there's an attempt to convey something genuine and heartfelt.

The act of writing on a postcard involves selecting "an adjective for the weather" and expressing cliched wishes like "having a wonderful time" and "wish you were here." Yet, these conventional phrases mask a deeper longing, a hidden desire to exchange places with the recipient, capturing the complex emotions underlying seemingly simple communications. This duality reflects the sonnet's ability to convey profound emotional truths beneath its structured surface.

Collins poignantly captures the moment of receiving a postcard, where the recipient, walking back from the mailbox, becomes immersed in the "thin message" in their hands. The imagery of "a slice of this place" — whether it be a white beach, a piazza, or cathedral spires — serves to transport the recipient momentarily, piercing through the ordinariness of their day-to-day existence. This transportive power of the postcard parallels the sonnet's capacity to evoke vivid imagery and stir emotions within a compact form.

The poem concludes with the idea that the postcard serves as "a reversible display," offering both a glimpse of the sender's experiences and a "compression of what we feel." This encapsulates the essence of the sonnet, where intense emotional and intellectual experiences are distilled into a few, potent lines. Through "American Sonnet," Collins extends the tradition of the sonnet into the realm of everyday life, suggesting that profound expressions of love, longing, and connection can be found in the most mundane of gestures, bridging the gap between the classical and the contemporary, the exalted and the everyday.

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