After Life And Death In Billy Collins 'The Afterlife'

In Billy Collins’ poem, “The Afterlife,” a description of what some refuse to discuss and others are pensive about is brought to light. Not to mock those seeing the light, but more so to address how all our differences may, in fact, make us similar when it comes to conversation of the afterlife and death: “They are moving off in all imaginable directions, each according to his own private belief” (4, 5) as the afterlife is subjective to each individual according to their belief (Semansky). We are all similar in the sense that we all retain some thought on the afterlife. This poem distinctly exemplifies the fortes and accountabilities of Collins’ style. “The Afterlife” could be referred to as the book cover for discussing each individual’s design …show more content…
Collins has a free form to the poem and uses enjambment to retain the aesthetically pleasing form so as not to make one line much longer than preceding or following. He begins with an idea quite popular among many people, which aids his venture in being relatable: “Some are being shot up in a funnel of flashing colors into a zone of light” (10, 11). Due to television, multimedia, and stories it is common to believe this is what happens when one dies. The idea of one’s life flashing before them for instance is what Collins is describing. He then moves on to discuss those who may believe there will be a “judge” of some sort that will decide your fate. Collins describes the scene with “a golden ladder on one side, a coal chute on the other,” (13) which possesses an impact of detailed imagery without having to be specific. He intelligently convinces the reader to begin thinking of what this scene or image he has conjured up would look like to that specific individual. In this way, Collins is portraying how the human mind can create so much that it creates an idea of what death is going to be like; an idea that is unfathomable. He doesn’t forget to mention the idea of reincarnation either as he stretches across the subject of the afterlife: “There are those who are squeezing into bodies of animals” (22, 23). As Collins shifts from “chorus girls” (17) to a “female God” (18), he becomes less and less detail oriented (Pool). While Collins still utilizes imagery to give descriptions, they lack a strong structure and this is, yet again, providing confirmation of a theme that could be stated as people are most likely going to believe what they want to believe even after hearing what others do when it is pertinent to a topic like

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After Life And Death In Billy Collins 'The Afterlife'

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