I am not a reader of poetry, but I found this book to be a delightful, beautifully written series on poems. Each one told a story in a very few words. Collins has a gift for bringing each observation of man's humanity and nature's glory to the page in it's very essence. Just the right few words can do this and Collins finds them every time.

One of the hardest experiences of my formal education was having a word limit on large projects. How can a professor ask for a thorough investigation of an assigned topic, and then truncate the result to a measly 1000 words?

While this is not my first encounter with Billy Collins’s poetry (I quite enjoy reading “Introduction to Poetry” each semester with my students), I found the brevity of each piece refreshing and thought-provoking. This volume is a gourmet meal of poetry: each bite tiny, but unforgettable.

Modern day poetry has almost left me scared to read new releases, but sometimes, there comes a book like Musical Tables.

While Collins' new release isn't necessarily groundbreaking, the way in which he taps in to grief and whimsicality is a testament to his craft.

Firstly, I would like to thank Random House Publishing and NetGalley, who kindly provided me with a free advanced reader's copy of this work in exchange for an honest review.

Billy Collins' upcoming poetry collection Musical Tables is comprised of roughly 125 poems; each of them very, uniquely small. The poems within this work are short, some of them even four lines or less, and as hesitant as I was of this going in, I was pleasantly surprised upon finishing this wonderful little collection.

While Musical Tables is certainly a departure from Collins' usual long-form work, he proves to be excellent in capturing small, blink-and-you'll-miss-it moments; condensing them into bite-sized pieces of poetry. Not to say, of course, that these poems are lacking in any way, or that they would require more lines to flesh out their narrative or emotional weight. These poems feel complete.

Dealing with themes commonly found in Collins' long-form work - including nature, animals, love, humanity, and memory - the poems in Musical Tables are emotional, introspective, and at times quite humorous. The poems' small-form technique recalls "This Is Just To Say" by William Carlos Williams, for example.

I am very happy to have read this collection. Billy Collins' poetic voice is certainly one to remember; it will make you laugh, think, and fill you with wonder for all the little things that usually go unnoticed.

Are all of the poems perfect? No.
Was I amused by this collection of poetic vignette’s. Yes.
Was I sucker punched by a poem that reminded of a great lost lost? Sadly, yes.

This collection of short poems by Billy Collins gives readers a great taste of his signature style. Including poems that are shorter than many of his other collections, the poems are accessible and easy to understand. Some of the poems could be used in a classroom as non-threatening mentor texts that would allow students to emulate and analyze his moves as a poet. A good addition to any poetry collection.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy.

This was a fun and enjoyable book of short poems that bear repeated readings--sometimes because their surface simplicity conceals much deeper meanings, sometimes just to marvel at how Collins is able to choose precisely the right, very few words. I think I still prefer Collins's longer poems but this was still a rewarding read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for providing me with an ARC of this title in return for my honest review.

Have you ever opened a box of chocolates swearing that you will have just one or two and then find you have eaten the whole damn box? That's what happened when I dipped into this book. I kept saying "just one more" until to my surprise I came to the acknowledgements .

This is a book of little poems, each a small treasure. Many are ironic, more than a few are outright funny. I had to stiffle my laugh several times during my early morning little poem bender. I will no doubt buy this when it comes out.

Musical Tables is a collection of witty, extremely short poems by Billy Collins, a former poet laureate. I enjoyed this collection and found the poems to be accessible and witty. At its best, these micro-poems provide smart, vivid vignettes into a discrete moment of time. I would estimate 2/3 of the poems fell into that category. Some of the others read more like “dad jokes.” Overall, would recommend this collection.

A collection of short poems, tiny kernels of wisdom, humor, and irony condensed to their essences from the always entertaining Billy Collins.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for the ARC of the book in exchange for an honest review.

"Musical Tables" is a book of small poems by Billy Collins. At the end of the book, Collins indicates that "small poems are drastic examples of poetry's way of squeezing large content into tight spaces", and he does that with every poem in this book, whether they are one-liners, or have several lines. Each poem depicts a different picture in a playful, humorous, and masterful way, triggering the whole imagination of its reader with only so many words. I have several favorite poems in this book but the one that keeps lingering is this:

"A Memory

It came back to me
not in the way
a thing might be returned
to its rightful owner
but like dance music
traveling in the dark
from one end
of a lake to the other."

Even in small poems, Billy Collins is amazing at preserving the strength and the emotion the words emit, which makes this book of poems a great reading experience, just like other poetry books of Collins.

Further proof that Billy Collins deserves every accolade he receives. His trademark humor interspersed with wisdom, all presented in tiny packages.

In my MFA program, it was unpopular to like Billy Collins, and I could understand why. My program was filled with people who wanted to write poetry that lasted longer than that odd taste on the tongue and though I would argue that some of Collins's poems are worthy of bringing into the classroom (which I do), I know many of his poems melt and are forgotten.

I will admit that there are poems by Collins that I love. I will admit that it makes sense he was chosen for Poet Laureate. He is an excellent non-poet's poet. He's easily understood and kind of affable on the page.

But--this collection is perhaps the best example of why my cohort did not love Collins.

I appreciated the note in the back of the book about short poems and the importance of them--I agree. There are so many short poems that zing and are delicious and worth that permanence. These poems usually *do something* though, whereas the poems in Collins's forthcoming book felt little more than the poetry equivalent of bad dad jokes.

I think if the brief poems were contrasted with some longer ones, there would have been more punch, but in a litany using a fairly similar technique each time, they felt un-unique and unsurprising to me.

A miss for me.

I received a copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Pieces of this review appeared in my Instagram stories on 7/16/22

A very quick read, as the poems are all very short. I really liked the little snapshots, as I saw them. Billy Collins writes with humor at times, but also with sadness at others. Sometimes just a few lines are incredibly powerful. I'd like to read more of his work.

Billy Collins has long been considered an approachable poet for people who aren't really fans of literary poetry. In the past his poems were understandable but still meaningful; however, in his latest book he's moved beyond understandable to trite. Possibly an interesting collection for fans of Hallmark cards or stanza-length instagram poetry.

I enjoyed this collection of micropoems. It had the same wit, humor, insight and simple prose of COLLINS' other collections, just -- shorter. I found it at times fun, poignant and refreshing. Recommended if you enjoy micropoetry or COLLINS' other work.

This book is filled with short poems. This book is an "Ah - Ha" book. You read the poem and not understand what its talking about until you read it like 3 times, then the ah ha comes. Even though its a fast read and loaded with short poems, I loved it. Its very thought provoking. Also I loved the title of the book and the cover . That little sheep on the cover was so cute and I could not pass it off. Glad I didnt. Loved the book and hopefully I get to read more of his books.

I received a free copy of the book and is voluntary writing a review.

Used Books is a new favorite of mine.
The book of small poems is impactful, and at times incredibly humorous. There were poems in here that made me chuckle, others that cause an intake of breath and realization, and yet some still that I relate to profoundly. Billy Collins proves that he is always one to come back to.

My first introduction to Billy Collins and his work was in my high school sophomore English class reading “Introduction to Poetry”. I’m including the text of it below, courtesy of Poetry Foundation:

I ask them to take a poem
and hold it up to the light
like a color slide

or press an ear against its hive.

I say drop a mouse into a poem
and watch him probe his way out,

or walk inside the poem’s room
and feel the walls for a light switch.

I want them to waterski
across the surface of a poem
waving at the author’s name on the shore.

But all they want to do
is tie the poem to a chair with rope
and torture a confession out of it.

They begin beating it with a hose
to find out what it really means.

© 1988, 1996 Billy Collins. Source: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/46712/introduction-to-poetry.

Since that fateful day, I myself no longer try to “torture a confession” out of the poems I read. I simply spend time with them, ruminating on them. Some poems reveal all of their truths at once while others can take anywhere from years to never to come into the light. The best poems, at least in my opinion, are the ones you can’t explain but that make you feel something deep stirring within you.

All of that said, I think that Musical Tables is one of his best collections yet. More than 125 new poems are contained therein and all of them are short. If brevity is indeed the soul of wit, there’s enough wit in these 176 pages to confound King Solomon. Don’t expect any of the poems in this collection to smack you over the head with their profundity. While some of them are indeed deeply insightful, oftentimes whimsical and playful, none of them are preeners. They simply stand in front of the reader naked and say, “This is what you get, like it or not.” Some made me chuckle. Others made me pause ever so briefly to think. It’s exactly that brand of self-effacing yet utterly winning that keeps me coming back to Billy Collins and his work through the years.

While I can’t share the text of them here, not just yet anyway, I will tell you that my favorite poems from Collins’s newest collection are (in no particular order): “The Dead of Winter”, “Headstones”, “The Sociologist”, “Twisting Time”, “Eyes”, and “Orphans”.

Musical Tables is lovely collection of short poems from one of my favourite modern poets - Billy Collins. A selection of 125 small (sometimes tiny!) poems captures the humour and intelligence intrinsic to his work. I have always loved his ability to find the meaning and beauty in the simplest of artifacts. Many poems in Musical Tables (yes - this is a running theme that ties the collection together) are crisp and clear, and bring the reader right into the heart of everyday moments or observations. Others are delightfully cheeky and musing full of wit and introspection. I would recommend this title for all modern poetry readers.

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group and NetGalley for the ARC.