On Turning Ten by Billy Collins

On Turning Ten is a mournful poem by Billy Collins that shows the issues one particular faces when they become older in life. It is a damaging overtone of the adjustments one particular begins witnessing when they transition to the age of ten inside the loved ones and social setting. The author utilizes metaphors, imagery and a adverse connotation to expound on these aspects of the poem. It is a poem that has a crucial thematic attribute of transition towards understanding the planet better and the anticipated modifications that are present in life. The poem requires the reader through the diverse alterations that the narrator has faced and how reality has dawned on the narrator on the distinct changes in life. This paper examines the use of metaphors, imagery and negative overtone by way of the poem to make an evaluation of the poem.

In the 1st stanza, the narrator juxtaposes turning ten with the worst stomachache, headache, measles spirits and mumps of the psyche. The narrator makes use of the metaphorical phrases to paint a image of the bad situation that he has faced whilst moving to a new age. The use of the different conditions including “disfiguring chicken pox of the soul” serves as element of the metaphorical phrases that the author has utilised. The use of phrases that are becoming drawn to paint the bad image that the narrator faces which have been mostly exaggerated are crucial in indicating the condition that the narrator faces. It is an essential attribute that has been developed by the author towards identifying and making a unfavorable overtone of the actions that have been identified in the new life. The narrator also makes use of metaphors in the last stanza whilst noting that “But now when I fall upon the sidewalks of life, I skin my knees and bleed” which is also aimed at showing the troubles the narrator is facing. The sidewalks of life have been utilised as a metaphor to mean difficulties in life with bleeding becoming the consequences. The author has utilised the metaphorical phrases completely to expound on the enormous problems that the narrator faces in a new age. Turning ten indicates the earliest age when the narrator has attained a two-digit age. The age ten is only significant since it represents the age when the narrator stops being referred to a single digit in his age towards gaining double figures.

Imagery has been extensively utilized in the poem as the author aims to highlight these troubles perfectly in the poem. For instance, in the second stanza, the narrator highlights that “At four I was an Arabian Wizard, I could make myself invisible…… At seven I was a soldier, at nine a prince.” The narrator utilizes all these distinct roles to indicate the various stages and attributes that he faced in life. The simplicity and excellent life that the author had in the previous can only be expounded by means of the reality that the photos represented a character that the narrator wanted to emulate. All the pleasures have given that been removed and there have been huge troubles that the narrator has faced as a outcome of the set modifications. The modifications indicate a essential pattern that is firmly modeled on the essential changes that the narrator has had to reflect on more than time. In the third stanza, the narrator notes that “my bicycle never ever leaned against the garage as it does these days all the dark blue speed drained of it.” The author, in this case, makes use of imagery to depict the shift and modifications that the narrator has had to face in a new life. I a planet exactly where the narrator has faced a new chapter in life and different responsibilities, embracing modify have been a hard attribute to accommodate in life. The use of imagery has been a vital object towards overseeing a newer and greater model that is inculcated under the present conditions and expectations of other individuals towards him. The social attributes and activities that had been present in the past have turn into tough to accept as the planet has been entirely turned and much better methods have been adopted. The use of imagery has been completely modeled and produced towards overseeing a newer and better scope of change needed in life.

The adverse connotation has also been utilized completely in the poem to highlight a series of different thematic attributes as highlighted in the poem. Modify is one of the main themes that the author aims to indicate in the poem. In the second stanza, the narrator notes that “You inform me it is too early to be looking back, but that is because you have forgotten the best simplicity of becoming a single and the stunning complexity introduced by two.” The damaging connotation raised in this case that seems as a direct communication with an adult indicates that change is tough at any stage. The melancholic mood of the whole poem is indicative of this fact as the social paradigm and model that the narrator's faces have been compounded by the modifications indicated perfectly. The primary attributes that have been indicated map a vital modify that is required inside the program and are vital towards outlining the primary modifications that the kid has faced. Though the child is only turning ten, it is a crucial age to the narrator since the adjustments that the narrator faces compound this fact. The negative connotation is also evident in the fourth stanza where the narrator notes that “this is the starting of sadness, I say to myself, as I stroll through the universe in my sneakers…….very good-bye to my imaginary buddies.” The unfavorable connotation indicates that the author does not want to accept the imminent changes that will be present in future and does not look forward to gaining from the models that have been identified. It is indicative of a pattern that has been drawn by means of the poem and primarily extrapolates the primary thematic attributes that are crucial towards adjust in the narrator’s life.

In conclusion, the author has completely integrated metaphors, imagery and damaging connotation to develop the theme of alter in the poem. Imagery has been extensively employed in the poem as the narrator uses distinct images to indicate the primary attributes and changes that the narrator faces. It is a vital element that has been founded on the principal models as indicated via the diverse types of investigation thereby inculcating the primary themes indicated accordingly. The poem has been perfectly modeled and a adverse overtone that compounds the changes that the youngster fears. The author connects the distinct components perfectly towards raising the problems required in the poem.