Fulfillment on the Susquehanna: Billy Collins's Message Mac Tank College

There comes a time for many people when the gruffness and chaos of the real world becomes too much and they crave a break from it all. Throughout the poem "Fishing on the Susquehanna in July," Billy Collins is able to convey this desire to remove oneself from the chaos of the real world and escape into a tranquil state of being. Through the use of metaphor, tone, and diction, the author is able to depict the narrator’s longing for an experience that brings him peace and a sense of calm. As the reader progresses throughout the poem, it becomes evident that the idea of fishing on the Susquehanna is a metaphor for experiencing the bigger things in life and trying to achieve a more physical and natural connection with the world, instead of living on the surface and remaining concerned merely with oneself.

Collins's narrator is trapped in the throes of daily life, and needs to find a way to disconnect himself from the chaos of life and find a greater reason for living. The first stanza initiates the reader’s understanding of how trapped the narrator has become in his simplistic routine, and of the need for him to break free. The lines, “I have never been fishing on the Susquehanna or any river for that matter to be perfectly honest”...