Aging In The Poem, On Turning Ten, By Billy Collins

Aging is a process that everyone inevitably goes through. This process affects people in multiple different ways. This includes that when a person ages their perspective on life changes. When a person is young they are naive and see life in a light matter. In a poem entitled “On turning Ten” by Billy Collins it explains that a young human being has a simple life because they do not fully understand what life truly is; “Perfect simplicity of being one” (11). Then, the poem includes the boy who is growing up reminiscing on the fun times he had as a younger child to demonstrates that a young person just sees life as an opportunity to have fun; “At four I was a Arabian wizard. I could make myself invisible by drinking a glass of milk a certain way. At seven I was a soldier, at nine a prince” (Collins 13-16). “Growing up” by Hannah Galvin is the name of an image that illustrates a person aging; the first figure in the picture shows a baby that is not aware of what life is, however the third image is a slightly older child that is running and looking up at life because it believes that life will always be simple. Therefore, when a person is young they see life

Collin’s poem revolves around a child who is growing up and starting to comprehend that as he grows older life will become more changeling and that he will need to part with his image of a effortless life; “This is beginning of sadness, I say to myself, as I walk through the universe in my sneakers. It is time to say good-bye to my imaginary friends, time to turn the big numbers” (24-27). Galvin further explains that maturing children apprehend life in a dark matter; the fourth figure in her picture shows the now teen child with its head hanging low. Since, young adults have recognized that life is not as simple as before they begin to perceive life