Billy Collins Schoolsville Essay

Undeniably, “Schoolsville” by Billy Collins is written to show the connection between school and life. In fact, the poem is about a man who has taught a numerous amount of students and he discusses how in reality there is not much of a difference between them in school and how they would be in life afterwards. The first stanza reads, “Glancing over my shoulder at the past, I realize the number of students I have taught is enough to populate a small town.” This stanza is telling us that this narrator is a teacher, and he is reflecting into the past about his students, and how he has had enough to fill up a “small town.” The next stanza is comparing the classroom to the new town. The nights would be dark like the blackboards of a classroom, …show more content…
Collins does not follow any rhyming patterns or measured rhythmical patterns within the poem. The fact that the poem is written in free verse with no specific rhyming patterns it shows the variety and freedom of poetry. Clearly, the language of the poem is not hard to understand, because everything within the poem is straightforward. The entire poem is made up of similes and metaphors. They are used to compare the teacher’s classroom to a small town, and his students to the population within the town. For example, “nights dark as blackboard” is comparing how dark a blackboard is inside of a classroom to how dark the nights would be in the town. The use of figurative language in this poem is used to help paint a picture in the reader’s mind of a classroom turning into a town, students becoming a population, a teacher becoming a mayor, etc… The one symbol that stands out in this poem is the teacher. The teacher is used a symbol of guidance; a mentor for all of the students that they have had throughout the past. The classroom is a symbol of a safe haven for the students passing through the teacher’s life. Overall the two symbols contribute a message of safety for the people attending