Why do we bother with the rest of the day...

Situation and Setting #1: "Morning" by Billy Collins
This poem can be found on p. 903 of the Norton

I really enjoyed this poem by Billy Collins. Collins does a great job in utilizing diction and tone in order to give the reader a certain feeling about the setting he chose. The poem is speaking about the time in the morning, right after we first wake up. It's that moment of "buzzing around the house one espresso". The worries of the day have yet to begin and the issues of the past are left in the past. This short period of time in the morning is like a fresh beginning to life.

Collins refers to the "swale of the afternoon,/ the sudden dip into evening." These phrases present a heavy feeling. The "sudden dip," in particular, makes me think of being rushed into the evening's events. However, the morning "is the best." The items that Collins chooses to describe leave a feeling of tranquility. If he had chosen to write about the nighttime in a similar way, it probably wouldn't have had the same effect. Morning brings a feeling of renewal and a rebirth.

The setting of this poem has everything to do with the overall theme of the poem. Collins is trying to connect with the reader's senses in order to give a tranquil feeling of the morning. He wants us to feel the calmness that he feels when first laying his "feet on the cold floor."