The Rain in Portugal: Poems
By Billy Collins Poet Billy Collins was born in New York City (1941). He wrote his first poem at the age of seven when he was driving with his parents and looked out the river and saw a sailboat on the East River. He continued to write poems even after he became an English professor. He wrote a couple of books before his breakthrough in 1988, when he published The Apple That Astonished Paris. He gained a following throughout the next decade, and by 1999, The New York Times called him "the most popular poet in America," pointing out that three of his four books were in the top 16 best-sellers on Amazon.com, competing with Walt Whitman, Robert Frost, and songwriters like Jewel and Jim Morrison. Billy Collins said: "I don't think people read poetry because they're interested in the poet. I think they read poetry because they're interested in themselves."Read our interview with Billy Collins.
Poems from the Book: Sixteen Years Old Sirens 1960 | 
