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On Turning Ten By Billy Collins Tone

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In the poem, “On Turning Ten”, Billy Collins uses tone to show the complexity of growing older. He views aging through a lens of hopelessness yet also with nostalgia. In the first stanza, Collins portrays his feelings of hopelessness by listing things he imagined himself as such as wizard and a soldier (Collins 13-16). This shows how before he was carefree and imaginative. In the next stanzas he uses words like “solemnly” and “sadness” (Collins 19 and 24). This tone change from carefree to serious portrays the complexity of his feelings towards growing up. On the other hand, he also demonstrates how he is nostalgic about growing up. Collins tone in the second stanza is very positive and suggests he enjoys reflecting on the past. He uses words
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