The Introduction

Painting by Jean Baptiste Simeon Chardin


The Introduction


I don’t think this next poem
needs any introduction—
it’s best to let the work
speak for itself.

Maybe I should just mention
that whenever I use the word five,
I’m referring to that group
of Russian composers
who came to be known as “The Five,”
Balakirev, Moussorgsky, Borodin—
that crowd.

Oh—and Hypsicles was a Greek astronomer.
He did something with the circle.
That’s about it, but for the record,
“Grimké” is Angelina Emily Grimké,
the abolitionist.

“Imroz” is that little island
near the Dardanelles.

“Monad”—well, you all know
what a monad is.

There could be a little problem
with mastaba, which is one
of those Egyptian above-ground sepulchers,
sort of brick and limestone.

And you’re all familiar
with helminthology?
It’s the science of worms.

The rest of the poem should be clear.

I’ll just read it
and let it speak for itself.

It’s about the time
I went picking wild strawberries.

It’s called
“Picking Wild Strawberries.”


Billy Collins

Posted over on Contemporary Poetry Review