Question

The Revenant by Billy Collins

I am the dog you put to sleep,
as you like to call the needle of oblivion,
come back to tell you this simple thing:
I never liked you--not one bit.
When I licked your face,
I thought of biting off your nose.
When I watched you toweling yourself dry,
I wanted to leap and unman you with a snap.
I resented the way you moved,
your lack of animal grace,
the way you would sit in a chair to eat,
a napkin on your lap, knife in your hand.
I would have run away,
but I was too weak, a trick you taught me
while I was learning to sit and heel,
and--greatest of insults--shake hands without a hand.
I admit the sight of the leash
would excite me
but only because it meant I was about
to smell things you had never touched.
You do not want to believe this,
but I have no reason to lie.
I hated the car, the rubber toys,
disliked your friends and, worse, your relatives.
The jingling of my tags drove me mad.
You always scratched me in the wrong place.
All I ever wanted from you
was food and fresh water in my metal bowls.
While you slept, I watched you breathe
as the moon rose in the sky.
It took all of my strength
not to raise my head and howl.
Now I am free of the collar,
the yellow raincoat, monogrammed sweater,
the absurdity of your lawn,
and that is all you need to know about this place
except what you already supposed
and are glad it did not happen sooner--
that everyone here can read and write,
the dogs in poetry, the cats and the others in prose.

What do you think the poem is attempting to do? Educate the reader, create nostalgia , or fear, evoke a mood, etc? Is the poet effective?

Answer 1

The poem The Revenant by Billy Collins appears to evoke a mood and scrutinize human-animal relationships posthumously. It provocatively challenges perspectives on companionship and understanding of emotions in the wake of adversity, utilizing storytelling as a coping mechanism.

Step-by-step explanation:

The poem The Revenant by Billy Collins can be interpreted to be attempting to evoke a mood and explore the relationship between a pet and its owner from the pet's perspective after death. By using a deceased dog as the narrator, Collins brings forth the themes of resentment, freedom, and the afterlife in a unique manner that makes readers reflect on the nature of ownership and companionship.

The poem's effectiveness lies in its ability to challenge the reader's assumptions and provoke thought about deeper emotional currents within human-animal relationships. When considering the context of stories and sentiments shared in the poem, it becomes apparent that the speaker retells certain stories for self-comfort and to understand complex emotions, analogous to the ways in which humans process tragic events. These emotions may relate to feeling empathy for one's adversaries and questioning the nature of vengeance, illustrating how storytelling aids in the coping process.