Summary Of On Turning Ten By Billy Collins

The poem on “On Turning Ten” by Billy Collins is about the reality of growing up. Collins incorporated rhetorical devices to covey to the reader the reluctance one can experience when turning a year older. The tone of the poem centers the emotions on turning ten and leaving childhood behind. On Turning Ten is written from a child’s perspective, portraying the enjoyments of a child. On the contrary, it also portrays sadness of aging and great loss of the innocence of a child. At the same time the mood of the poem is best described as humorous resembling the silliness of a child. The audience of the poem is intended for anyone who is willing to look back, reminisce and imagine their own childhood years. On Turning Ten Billy Collins serves to capture childhood memories and the reluctance to accept growing up.

In the first stanza, Collins immediately engages the reader with comparing the idea of turning ten to a disease in a child’s perspective. Collins wanted to allow the reader to feel the emotion in the beginning of the poem. He uses as complex metaphor comparisons such as: “a kind of measles of the spirit/ a mumps of the psyche/ a disfiguring chicken pox of the soul” (5-7). One can assume that chicken pox, mumps and measles are a sign of growing up and are all viral infections that's most children have experienced and remember the …show more content…
After reading this stanza, the readers can relate to maturing, growing up and accepting age. As a man writing the poem in boy’s perspective, Collins wanted the reader to share the experience of changing perspectives as one ages: “Watching the late afternoon light/ back then it never fell so solemnly/ against the side of my tree house/ and my bicycle never learned against the garage as it does today” (18-21). Like many children as they get into the older years no longer has the desire to keep up with such child antics. Collins presented this in a more serious