We often don’t realize the bad aspects that come along with growing up. Billy Collins’ poem, “On Turning Ten” elaborates on this idea and shows the outcomes of these aspects on us. In his poem, the speaker is about to turn the age of double digits, making him realize he is no longer his younger self. As the speaker explains the frightening idea of turning ten, he also reminisces about his happy childhood. The speaker then goes through variations of sadness over losing his younger self and soon realizes the difficulty of aging. By using metaphors and imagery, Collins communicates that as we lose our innocence when we grow up, we negatively change our perspective on maturity to become from an oblivious view to a harsher point of view.
Early in …show more content…
(24-27)
The speaker contrasts with the happiness earlier on in his childhood by using imagery to illustrate his misery and loneliness after being forced to lose his innocence. By using details such as “sneakers,” the speaker is able to convey he still wants to keep a part of his childhood since most of the time, we associate kids with sneakers. Instead of growing up, the speaker would rather stay behind in his youth and keep his innocence. Also, the scene that the speaker illustrates with the phrase, “It is time to say good-bye to my imaginary friends,” communicates a sense of loneliness, since maturity is forcing the speaker to leave all of his imaginary friends, and conquer growing up alone. By doing this, the speaker is losing his innocence of his imaginary friends, thus partly losing his younger self. Also, when using the phrase, “I walk through the universe” the speaker illustrates a scene where walking through the universe is a big area, making it seem like growing up is a big change. Usually, we give up something to adapt to changes, and in this case, the speaker will have to give up innocence to adapt to growing up. The speaker views this change sadly since he expresses this as “the beginning of sadness.” With the use of imagery, the speaker is able to depict a scene of how growing up can cause a loss of characteristics of our younger selves, affecting our
Early in …show more content…
(24-27)
The speaker contrasts with the happiness earlier on in his childhood by using imagery to illustrate his misery and loneliness after being forced to lose his innocence. By using details such as “sneakers,” the speaker is able to convey he still wants to keep a part of his childhood since most of the time, we associate kids with sneakers. Instead of growing up, the speaker would rather stay behind in his youth and keep his innocence. Also, the scene that the speaker illustrates with the phrase, “It is time to say good-bye to my imaginary friends,” communicates a sense of loneliness, since maturity is forcing the speaker to leave all of his imaginary friends, and conquer growing up alone. By doing this, the speaker is losing his innocence of his imaginary friends, thus partly losing his younger self. Also, when using the phrase, “I walk through the universe” the speaker illustrates a scene where walking through the universe is a big area, making it seem like growing up is a big change. Usually, we give up something to adapt to changes, and in this case, the speaker will have to give up innocence to adapt to growing up. The speaker views this change sadly since he expresses this as “the beginning of sadness.” With the use of imagery, the speaker is able to depict a scene of how growing up can cause a loss of characteristics of our younger selves, affecting our