The Country - Billy Collins Animated Poetry
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- Опубликовано: 24 авг 2024
- Billy Collins, former US Poet Laureate and one of America's best-selling poets, reads his poem "The Country" with animation by Brady Baltezor of Radium.
Noted for their intelligent humor, accessibility and observations on daily life, Collins' popular poems come alive further in a series of animated poems produced by JWT-NY.
Transcript -
I wondered about you
when you told me never to leave
a box of wooden, strike-anywhere matches
lying around the house because the mice
might get into them and start a fire.
But your face was absolutely straight
when you twisted the lid down on the round tin
where the matches, you said, are always stowed.
Who could sleep that night?
Who could whisk away the thought
of the one unlikely mouse
padding along a cold water pipe
behind the floral wallpaper
gripping a single wooden match
between the needles of his teeth?
Who could not see him rounding a corner,
the blue tip scratching against a rough-hewn beam,
the sudden flare, and the creature
for one bright, shining moment
suddenly thrust ahead of his time -
now a fire-starter, now a torchbearer
in a forgotten ritual, little brown druid
illuminating some ancient night.
Who could fail to notice,
lit up in the blazing insulation,
the tiny looks of wonderment on the faces of his fellow mice, onetime inhabitants
of what once was your house in the country?
these are what got me into Billy Collins poetry. Thank you! Beautiful!
Man, I love Billy Collins!
I Love the poem and the animation that goes with it! Wish i could give you more than 5 stars~~:))
Loveley, I adored watching.
its a brilliant poem..very observant, very imaginative and beautifully quirky...
@angiolip It is indeed Billy Collins' talking / reading his own poem. I had the honor of attending a Mercer Press event in Atlanta where he read three poems. He is remarkable via the use of his dry and monotone cadence in rendering a poem to the level of mesmerizing.
My wife loves this poem, has read it a few times at our coffee house along with some of your other poems. Thanks for posting the animated version.
Beauty, beauty, beauty...
I love this poem. I think this poem is about our fear of ignorant or inexperience people sabotaging our thoughtful efforts in a stroke of heedlessness
Billy Collins is built for this medium - He's fortunate to have found filmmakers who make his words come to life on big and small screen alike.
Fantastic.
Fantastic!
It is Wonderful to have you posting again. Thank you!
You're absolutely right my friend. :) I'd love to see nostalgia!
that was so vivid i cud picture it even withoutb the animation,, felt the mice was like in an olypic games except his moment of glory, although laragely accidental affected his fellow mice negatively
Fantastic!!
another good job- -you do nice stuff man
I love these!
beautful
Excellent animation!
"little brown druid..." his diction is so briliant
i love lanyard and all the rest but this is my favourite-born to read borne to be read
Bravo!
Excellent video.
Awesome, great animation and poem.
Well done.
Haha! I like when he's waving the match around and the other mice are cheering XD
Awesome poem and fantastic animation. *watches and listens to for the third time today*
I love the way you recite the poem.
Great work!
nice animation.
nice poem.
nice nice.
Very nice.
that was so well done! thank you
WOW! im speechless
I love the mice in their brief joy celebrating the fire bringer.
I'd like to see "Schoolville" animated and a proper job done on "Shoveling Snow with the Buddha"
great stuff
I love this stuff so much!!!
billy collins has the best reading voice i dont care what anyone here says...the people that dont get it probably dont READ full stop
Marvelous
this is absolutely incredible. I love it
You are a poet!
ooOoOoo Imaginatively amazing.
that was beautiful!
I like it!
@acari27 I guess some people just don't appreciate his style. They want to hear something that's more theatrical, they want every poet to be a slam poet. I often find Billy Collins voice very entrancing and full of subtle variations that mean a lot.
He's my favorite poet - Love the concept here :)
the delivery is is always so monotone and stilted which i feel works better in your video for "Forgetfulness", still though this is great work. its almost mesmerizing; it has a calming, trancelike effect on me
I absolutely love everything by this man!
--Sarah
(Maker of books and mini films and video poems)
Links?
there needs to be a 10 hour version of the brown rat dance it is supa beasty
that was f#c&kin sweet
Yes, and how would you like it to be read instead?
Good stuff, it made me cry :'(
I wish someone would animate my poems and read them in a dull monotone.
@oruga101 I like the combination of the reader sounding so serious while reading something so absurd. While there wasn't any dramatic vocal variety I don't think it was excessively monotone or dull. It all depends what you're looking for though doesn't it. Maybe you could post a reading of this poem just to show how you would like it to be read so that we can make the comparison.
Uh oh. I better go police up my matches.
@oruga101 I think it is a computer that is "reading" it. Very similar to the Mac one in any case.
poetry is for everyone ...dont flatter yourself mon ami
@oruga101 That's Billy Collin's actual voice...
Yeah, great poet and voice.... And the animation is fantastic. Matches poem. Who is this director? And can I get him to do some of my poems?
If you like this poem (like I do, I love it) you should check out 'Across The Clouds' by JNeffLind. It's animated poetry in the same style as Billy Collins. Fun, unpretentious, but meaningful. I tried to post it as a video response here but for some reason they won't let me.
Best,
J
Who is the expert when it comes about poetry
ARE YOU ?
Very nice indeed for no s____e at all or whether i wanted to hear about s_____x
incredible work! are you the animator?
HAHA that wuz funneh ((BECCA WAS HERE! -go stiegal!!!-))
The poem is a little funny, but the Matrix-style techno mouse rave had me laughing out loud.
@themredweirdoshow come on don't let the facts get in the way of a good story (-: I don't think it's one of Billy Collins best but I don't think I've ever seen a bad poem written by him.
Of course.
How did you make your animation? What tool do you use?
Right!
;.-)
@oruga101 sounds exactly like the poet to me
Oh my god that is amazing.
hahaha very nice
@DwiteTheSpriteKnight
I'm not going to put time and effort into making a recording of myself reading a poem by a poet who I don't even like. If I was going to record myself reading, it would be of a poem that is more suited to my tastes and ideals, like Mr. Flood's Party or Birches.
monotone yes...dull?..never...
bringhurst @ 0:18
Creepy
@speakZarathustra
I don't like the guy.
Then write some better poems. Apparently right now you aren't even worth the monotone, let alone the animation.
I love this poem, but I have to say I just posted this comment about it, on Facebook:
"He can't read his own work for shit, though. I think that's at least 50% of being a poet, to be frank - if you can't 'perform' your own works well, you can't expect people to ever take you seriously... Performance poetry IS poetry, in my opinion. You can't expect other people to understand your work if you can't 'walk them through it', eh? He has virtually no inflection, in his voice. It's like listening to Stephen Hawking's voice-synthesiser."
I'm a poet, you know. I'm Britain's Greatest Living Club-Footed Poet, actually... You can buy my works on Amazon, if you like.
Terence Staines The mouse as Prometheus, eh?
How did you make your animation? What tool do you use?