--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I think my poems are slightly underrated…" description: "\"I think my poems are slightly underrated by the word accessible.\" — Billy Collins" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b3d/billy-collins-3004_accessible_i-think-my-poems-are-slightly-underrated_2675163.png" --- # I think my poems are slightly underrated by the word… ![“I think my poems are slightly underrated by the word accessible.” quote by Billy Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b3d/billy-collins-3004_accessible_i-think-my-poems-are-slightly-underrated_2675163.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b3d/billy-collins-3004_accessible_i-think-my-poems-are-slightly-underrated_2675163.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b3d/billy-collins-3004_accessible_i-think-my-poems-are-slightly-underrated_2675163.png) > “I think my poems are slightly underrated by the word accessible.” [Billy Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-collins/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The poet feels his work is underrated, perhaps because “accessible” is seen as a negative term. **In simple terms:** Poetry may be undervalued for being easy. Key Takeaway Embrace accessibility in art. Themes poetry accessibility underrated perception Mood thoughtful hopeful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - teaching poetry - public readings - literary festivals Key Concepts aesthetics literary criticism Questions to Reflect On - Why is “accessible” sometimes dismissed? - How to balance depth and accessibility? A Different Perspective Accessibility can broaden audience reach. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Accessible](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/accessible/) [Poems Slightly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poems-slightly-2535922/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) [Slightly Underrated](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/slightly-underrated-2535923/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Underrated](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/underrated/) [Underrated Word](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/underrated-word-2535925/) [Word Accessible](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/word-accessible-2535924/) ## Related quotes > [Whether it be a televised match or even a live event match, in this day and age, the Internet is so accessible and everybody…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tommaso-ciampa/whether-it-be-a-televised-match-or-even-a-live-event-match-in-this/) [Tommaso Ciampa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tommaso-ciampa/) > [A president aiming for 'Great' or 'Near Great' status must do more. He must give lots of interviews, make records accessible, and heap the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-frank/a-president-aiming-for-great-or-near-great-status-must-do-more-he/) [Thomas Frank](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-frank/) > [We are able to use technology to make it clear that someone's car is available or a room in a home is accessible; that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-gansky/we-are-able-to-use-technology-to-make-it-clear-that-someone-s-car-is/) [Lisa Gansky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-gansky/) > [Media is so weird; everything is so accessible now. It used to be this thing where, if you did something on 'This American Life,'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-birbiglia/media-is-so-weird-everything-is-so-accessible-now-it-used-to-be-this/) [Mike Birbiglia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-birbiglia/) > [Empathy is the most mysterious transaction that the human soul can have, and it's accessible to all of us, but we have to give…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-monk-kidd/empathy-is-the-most-mysterious-transaction-that-the-human-soul-can/) [Sue Monk Kidd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-monk-kidd/) > [Self-expression should not be a challenge that demands extraordinary talent but should be a right accessible to all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deeyah-khan/self-expression-should-not-be-a-challenge-that-demands-extraordinary/) [Deeyah Khan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deeyah-khan/) > [And it's been one of my big sort of campaigns throughout my career, really, is to sort of make art accessible but without dumbing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grayson-perry/and-it-s-been-one-of-my-big-sort-of-campaigns-throughout-my-career/) [Grayson Perry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grayson-perry/) > [Patrick Swayze reminded me a lot of Gene Kelly. Patrick had that Everyman quality. 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And because New Orleans is below sea level, when they bury…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-trammell/there-s-also-the-tradition-of-voodoo-the-haitian-magic-arts-in-new/) [Sam Trammell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-trammell/) > [I think sometimes - not always - I write songs that are accessible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-byrne/i-think-sometimes-not-always-i-write-songs-that-are-accessible/) [David Byrne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-byrne/) > [With the 'Watchmen' comic, we attempted to tell it in an accessible way. I deliberately made the artwork very clear, deceptively so. You think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-gibbons/with-the-watchmen-comic-we-attempted-to-tell-it-in-an-accessible-way/) [Dave Gibbons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-gibbons/) > [Like almost every major infrastructure, the Internet can be abused and its users harmed. We must, however, take great care that the cure for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vint-cerf/like-almost-every-major-infrastructure-the-internet-can-be-abused-and/) [Vint Cerf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vint-cerf/) ## More by Billy Collins > [“The whole idea of it makes me feel Like I’m coming down with something, Something worse than any stomach ache Or the headaches I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-collins/the-whole-idea-of-it-makes-me-feel-like-i-m-coming-down-with/) [Billy Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-collins/) > [I think clarity is the real risk in poetry because you are exposed. You're out in the open field. You're actually saying things that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-collins/i-think-clarity-is-the-real-risk-in-poetry-because-you-are-exposed/) [Billy Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-collins/) > [...pleasure, of course, is a slippery word… Our pleasures ultimately belong to us, not to the pleasure's so](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-collins/pleasure-of-course-is-a-slippery-word-our-pleasures-ultimately-belong/) [Billy Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-collins/) > [I stared up at the ebbing quarter moon and the stars scattered like a handful of salt across the faraway sky...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-collins/i-stared-up-at-the-ebbing-quarter-moon-and-the-stars-scattered-like-a/) [Billy Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-collins/) > [Death is what makes life fun.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-collins/death-is-what-makes-life-fun/) [Billy Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-collins/) > [A trouble with poetry is the presence of presumptuousness in poetry, the sense you get in a poem that the poet takes for granted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-collins/a-trouble-with-poetry-is-the-presence-of-presumptuousness-in-poetry/) [Billy Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-collins/) > [You come by your style by learning what to leave out. At first you tend to overwrite—embellishment instead of insight. You either continue to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-collins/you-come-by-your-style-by-learning-what-to-leave-out-at-first-you/) [Billy Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-collins/) > [But my heart is always propped up in a field on its tripod, ready for the next arrow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-collins/but-my-heart-is-always-propped-up-in-a-field-on-its-tripod-ready-for/) [Billy Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-collins/) > [I can hear the library humming in the night, a choir of authors murmuring inside their books along the unlit, alphabetical shelves, Giovanni Pontano…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-collins/i-can-hear-the-library-humming-in-the-night-a-choir-of-authors/) [Billy Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-collins/) > [Every Day Is for the Thief is a vivid, episodic evocation of the truism that you can't go home again; but that doesn't mean…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-collins/every-day-is-for-the-thief-is-a-vivid-episodic-evocation-of-the/) [Billy Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-collins/) > [Humor, for me, is really a gate of departure. Its a way of enticing a reader into a poem so that less funny things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-collins/humor-for-me-is-really-a-gate-of-departure-its-a-way-of-enticing-a/) [Billy Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-collins/) > [You know how sometimes you just have a memory of looking up and seeing a face looking over your crib and then remember nothing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-collins/you-know-how-sometimes-you-just-have-a-memory-of-looking-up-and/) [Billy Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-collins/) > [Usually the poems are written in one sitting. There's always a groping towards some satisfying ending. But I'd say the hardest part is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-collins/usually-the-poems-are-written-in-one-sitting-there-s-always-a-groping/) [Billy Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-collins/) > [I was influenced by the Beats because I actually just began to commit adolescence around 1955, when "Howl" and Rebel Without a Cause and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-collins/i-was-influenced-by-the-beats-because-i-actually-just-began-to-commit/) [Billy Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-collins/) > [Some difficulty is warranted and other difficulty I think is gratuitous. And I think I can tell the difference. There are certainly very difficult…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-collins/some-difficulty-is-warranted-and-other-difficulty-i-think-is/) [Billy Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-collins/) [Explore all 141 Billy Collins quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-collins/) ## More Accessible quotes > [Whether it be a televised match or even a live event match, in this day and age, the Internet is so accessible and everybody…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tommaso-ciampa/whether-it-be-a-televised-match-or-even-a-live-event-match-in-this/) [Tommaso Ciampa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tommaso-ciampa/) > [With the 'Watchmen' comic, we attempted to tell it in an accessible way. I deliberately made the artwork very clear, deceptively so. You think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-gibbons/with-the-watchmen-comic-we-attempted-to-tell-it-in-an-accessible-way/) [Dave Gibbons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-gibbons/) > [I think sometimes - not always - I write songs that are accessible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-byrne/i-think-sometimes-not-always-i-write-songs-that-are-accessible/) [David Byrne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-byrne/) > [There's also the tradition of voodoo, the Haitian magic arts, in New Orleans. And because New Orleans is below sea level, when they bury…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-trammell/there-s-also-the-tradition-of-voodoo-the-haitian-magic-arts-in-new/) [Sam Trammell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-trammell/) > [Podcasts feel about as accessible and ubiquitous as books or articles or anything like that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bowen-yang/podcasts-feel-about-as-accessible-and-ubiquitous-as-books-or-articles/) [Bowen Yang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bowen-yang/) > [Our constituents deserve outstanding services, and my office is working to ensure we are as accessible as possible to residents across the 18th Congressional…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conor-lamb/our-constituents-deserve-outstanding-services-and-my-office-is/) [Conor Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conor-lamb/) > [Accessible design is good design.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-ballmer/accessible-design-is-good-design/) [Steve Ballmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-ballmer/) > [Patrick Swayze reminded me a lot of Gene Kelly. Patrick had that Everyman quality. Gene made dancing sort of an accessible idea for the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenny-ortega/patrick-swayze-reminded-me-a-lot-of-gene-kelly-patrick-had-that/) [Kenny Ortega](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenny-ortega/) > [And it's been one of my big sort of campaigns throughout my career, really, is to sort of make art accessible but without dumbing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grayson-perry/and-it-s-been-one-of-my-big-sort-of-campaigns-throughout-my-career/) [Grayson Perry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grayson-perry/) > [Self-expression should not be a challenge that demands extraordinary talent but should be a right accessible to all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deeyah-khan/self-expression-should-not-be-a-challenge-that-demands-extraordinary/) [Deeyah Khan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deeyah-khan/) > [Empathy is the most mysterious transaction that the human soul can have, and it's accessible to all of us, but we have to give…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-monk-kidd/empathy-is-the-most-mysterious-transaction-that-the-human-soul-can/) [Sue Monk Kidd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-monk-kidd/) > [Media is so weird; everything is so accessible now. It used to be this thing where, if you did something on 'This American Life,'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-birbiglia/media-is-so-weird-everything-is-so-accessible-now-it-used-to-be-this/) [Mike Birbiglia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-birbiglia/) > [We are able to use technology to make it clear that someone's car is available or a room in a home is accessible; that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-gansky/we-are-able-to-use-technology-to-make-it-clear-that-someone-s-car-is/) [Lisa Gansky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-gansky/) > [A president aiming for 'Great' or 'Near Great' status must do more. He must give lots of interviews, make records accessible, and heap the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-frank/a-president-aiming-for-great-or-near-great-status-must-do-more-he/) [Thomas Frank](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-frank/) > [Like almost every major infrastructure, the Internet can be abused and its users harmed. We must, however, take great care that the cure for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vint-cerf/like-almost-every-major-infrastructure-the-internet-can-be-abused-and/) [Vint Cerf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vint-cerf/) [Browse all 211 Accessible quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/accessible/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I think my poems are slightly underrated by the word accessible.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Billy Collins" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-collins/i-think-my-poems-are-slightly-underrated-by-the-word-accessible/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Accessible" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-collins/i-think-my-poems-are-slightly-underrated-by-the-word-accessible/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b3d/billy-collins-3004_accessible_i-think-my-poems-are-slightly-underrated_2675163.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b3d/billy-collins-3004_accessible_i-think-my-poems-are-slightly-underrated_2675163.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b3d/billy-collins-3004_accessible_i-think-my-poems-are-slightly-underrated_2675163.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I think my poems are slightly underrated by the word accessible.” — Billy Collins", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Billy Collins", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-collins/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I think my poems are slightly...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-collins/i-think-my-poems-are-slightly-underrated-by-the-word-accessible/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-collins/i-think-my-poems-are-slightly-underrated-by-the-word-accessible/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```