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On Turning Ten Summary

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"On Turning Ten" by Billy Collins is a poem that addresses the idea of aging in a depressing and frustrating manner. At first sight, one would never suspect this poem revolves around the theme of death. Yet, it goes beyond literal death and focuses on the death of childhood. Written in the first person, this poem depicts the period of juvenescence as a time of innocence, imagination, creativity, and fantasies. Throughout the stanzas, Collins explores the idea of growing up and leaving childhood behind through the use of literary devices, such as hyperbole, metaphor, and tone. By using several literary devices, the author is able to create a reflective mood, which allows the reader to analyze the speaker 's feelings, regarding the process of …show more content…

Collins further uses literary devices in the third stanza to explore the speaker 's thoughts and ideas. First, he creates a juxtaposition between childlike and complex rhetorical language, by saying, "Back then it never fell so solemnly / against the side of my tree house" (19-20). The first line of the quote sets a serious tone, followed by the next line, which has a more childlike perspective and reminds the reader that he 's simply talking about the "afternoon light" (18). In addition, Collins says, "and my bicycle never leaned against the garage / as it does today, / all the dark blue speed drained out of it" (21-23), using another juxtaposition in the same stanza. He incorporates the idea of childlike innocence and complex language to convey the speaker 's emotions. When the bicycle is mentioned, the author uses personification that lend to the seriousness, then again, the reader understands that the poem is speaking of one who owns and rides a bike. Besides juxtaposition, this stanza showcases Collins ' best representation of imagery, through the lines mentioned before. Thanks to the use of imagery, the audience is able to connect to the poem, since all of us possess childhood memories. Such examples like the blue bike and the "tree house" (20), lend to the idea of the reader being able to close into the poem and having strong connection. Every single person have their own experiences and memories from the past. Therefore, Collins allows one to understand the poem and its message by writing common childhood

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