Try free for 30 days

Preview

1 credit a month to buy any audiobook in our entire collection.
Access to thousands of additional audiobooks and Originals from the Plus Catalogue.
Member-only deals & discounts.
Auto-renews at $16.45/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Musical Tables

By: Billy Collins
Narrated by: Billy Collins
Try Premium Plus free

$16.45 per month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $10.99

Buy Now for $10.99

Pay using voucher balance (if applicable) then card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions Of Use and Privacy Notice and authorise Audible to charge your designated credit card or another available credit card on file.

Publisher's Summary

"I’ve grown old–

now my own name

rings a bell."

In each of the short poems in Billy Collins’s Musical Tables, the former United States Poet Laureate tempers his characteristically jocular voice with what he calls the “thrill of mortality” – flashes of profundity amongst the mundane, startling reminders of the wonder of being alive.

Through the brevity of these poems, Collins’ knack for coaxing the poetry out of the everyday becomes ever more refined. Whether reflecting on mornings spent in the thicket of Los Angeles traffic, or turning over clichés on the tongue until old metaphors become new again, Musical Tables is Billy Collins at his most meditative: brief, and all the more brilliant for it.

©2022 Billy Collins (P)2022 Penguin Random House LLC

Critic Reviews

‘Limpid, gently and consistently startling, more serious than they seem, they describe all the worlds that are and were and some others besides.’ (John Updike)

‘Smart, his strings tuned and resonant, his wonderful eye looping over the things, events and ideas of the world, rueful, playful, warm voiced, easy to love.’ (E. Annie Prolux)

‘Funny but serious, accessible but rich in meaning, consistently surprising.’ (Nick Laird)

What listeners say about Musical Tables

Average Customer Ratings

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.