"On Turning Ten" was first published in the American poet Billy Collins's 1995 collection The Art of Drowning. One of the most popular contemporary U.S. poets, Collins is known for his humorous and conversational poems. This poem parodies a long tradition of "birthday poems," in which older poets reflect, often quite depressingly and with quite a bit of self-absorption, on their encroaching mortality. Here, the speaker is a child facing the prospect of turning 10 with horror and dread. Wistfully reminiscing about his life up until this point, the speaker contrasts the imagination and sense of invulnerability of early childhood with the painful loss of innocence that he must face in growing up.

• Read the full text of “On Turning Ten”

• “On Turning Ten” Summary

• “On Turning Ten” Themes

  • 

    Growing Up and the Loss of Innocence

    Where this theme appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-32
  • 

    Memory and Nostalgia

    Where this theme appears in the poem:

    • Lines 8-32

• Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “On Turning Ten”

  • Lines 1-4

    The whole idea ...
    ... in bad light--

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 5-7

    a kind of ...
    ... of the soul.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 8-12

    You tell me ...
    ... remember every digit.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 13-16

    At four I ...
    ... nine a prince.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 17-20

    But now I ...
    ... my tree house,

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 21-23

    and my bicycle ...
    ... out of it.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 24-27

    This is the ...
    ... first big number.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 28-32

    It seems only ...
    ... knees. I bleed.

    

    

    

    

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• “On Turning Ten” Symbols

  • 

    Light

    Where this symbol appears in the poem:

    • Lines 18-19: “watching the late afternoon light. / Back then it never fell so solemnly”
    • Lines 28-30: “I used to believe / there was nothing under my skin but light. / If you cut me I could shine.”
  • 

    Childhood Toys

    Where this symbol appears in the poem:

    • Lines 19-20: “Back then it never fell so solemnly / against the side of my tree house,”
    • Lines 21-23: “and my bicycle never leaned against the garage / as it does today, / all the dark blue speed drained out of it.”
  • 

    The Window

    Where this symbol appears in the poem:

    • Line 17: “But now I am mostly at the window”

• “On Turning Ten” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

  • Alliteration

    

    

    

    

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    Where alliteration appears in the poem:

    • Line 2: “something”
    • Line 3: “something,” “stomach”
    • Line 5: “measles,” “spirit”
    • Line 6: “mumps,” “psyche”
    • Line 7: “soul”
    • Line 8: “be,” “back”
    • Line 9: “but,” “because”
    • Line 10: “being”
    • Line 11: “beautiful”
    • Line 12: “But,” “bed”
    • Line 14: “make myself”
    • Line 15: “certain”
    • Line 16: “seven,” “soldier”
    • Lines 17-18: “window / watching”
    • Line 18: “late,” “light”
    • Line 19: “so solemnly”
    • Line 20: “side”
    • Line 24: “sadness,” “say”
    • Line 26: “time to,” “to”
    • Line 27: “time,” “ to ,” “turn”
    • Line 30: “cut,” “could”
    • Line 31: “sidewalks”
    • Line 32: “skin”

  • Anaphora

    

    

    

    

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    Where anaphora appears in the poem:

    • Line 5: “a”
    • Line 6: “a”
    • Line 7: “a”
    • Line 13: “At”
    • Line 16: “At,” “at”
    • Line 26: “It is time to”
    • Line 27: “time to”

  • Assonance

    

    

    

    

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    Where assonance appears in the poem:

    • Line 2: “coming ”
    • Lines 2-3: “something, / something”
    • Line 3: “stomach”
    • Line 7: “disfiguring chicken”
    • Line 11: “beautiful,” “introduced,” “two”
    • Line 12: “I,” “lie,” “my,” “bed,” “remember every”
    • Line 14: “invisible”
    • Line 15: “drinking,” “milk”
    • Line 20: “side,” “my”
    • Line 24: “This is,” “beginning”
    • Line 25: “through,” “universe”
    • Line 26: “time,” “bye,” “my”
    • Line 27: “turn,” “first”
    • Line 28: “believe”
    • Line 29: “nothing under,” “but”
    • Line 30: “cut”
    • Line 31: “fall upon,” “sidewalks,” “life”
    • Line 32: “I,” “my,” “knees,” “I,” “bleed”

  • Consonance

    

    

    

    

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    Where consonance appears in the poem:

    • Line 1: “makes”
    • Line 2: “like I'm coming,” “something”
    • Line 3: “something worse,” “stomach ache”
    • Line 4: “headaches”
    • Line 5: “measles,” “spirit”
    • Line 6: “mumps,” “psyche”
    • Line 7: “disfiguring chicken pox,” “soul”
    • Line 8: “be,” “back”
    • Line 9: “but,” “because”
    • Line 10: “perfect simplicity,” “being”
    • Line 11: “beautiful,” “complexity,” “introduced,” “two”
    • Line 14: “could make myself invisible”
    • Line 15: “drinking,” “glass,” “milk,” “certain”
    • Line 16: “seven,” “soldier,” “nine,” “prince”
    • Line 17: “window”
    • Line 18: “watching,” “late afternoon light”
    • Line 19: “fell so solemnly”
    • Line 20: “against,” “side,” “house”
    • Line 21: “bicycle,” “against”
    • Line 22: “does today”
    • Line 23: “dark,” “speed drained”
    • Line 24: “This,” “sadness,” “say,” “myself”
    • Line 25: “universe,” “sneakers”
    • Line 26: “time to”
    • Line 27: “time to turn,” “first”
    • Line 30: “cut,” “could”
    • Line 31: “sidewalks”
    • Line 32: “skin,” “knees”

  • Simile

    

    

    

    

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    Where simile appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-2: “The whole idea of it makes me feel / like I'm coming down with something,”

  • Enjambment

    

    

    

    

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    Where enjambment appears in the poem:

    • Lines 3-4: “ache / or”
    • Lines 9-10: “forgotten / the”
    • Lines 10-11: “one / and”
    • Lines 14-15: “invisible / by”
    • Lines 17-18: “window / watching”
    • Lines 19-20: “solemnly / against”
    • Lines 21-22: “garage / as”
    • Lines 28-29: “believe / there”

  • Irony

    

    

    

    

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    Where irony appears in the poem:

    • Lines 8-11: “You tell me it is too early to be looking back, / but that is because you have forgotten / the perfect simplicity of being one / and the beautiful complexity introduced by two.”
    • Lines 13-16: “At four I was an 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.”
    • Lines 24-25: “This is the beginning of sadness, I say to myself, / as I walk through the universe in my sneakers.”

  • Metaphor

    

    

    

    

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    Where metaphor appears in the poem:

    • Lines 5-7: “a kind of measles of the spirit, / a mumps of the psyche, / a disfiguring chicken pox of the soul.”
    • Lines 21-23: “and my bicycle never leaned against the garage / as it does today, / all the dark blue speed drained out of it.”
    • Lines 31-32: “But now when I fall upon / , / I skin my knees. I bleed.”
    • Line 31: “the sidewalks of life”

  • Personification

    

    

    

    

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    Where personification appears in the poem:

    • Lines 18-19: “ the late afternoon light. / Back then it never fell so solemnly”
    • Lines 21-23: “my bicycle never leaned against the garage / as it does today, / all the dark blue speed drained out of it.”

  • Repetition

    

    

    

    

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    Where repetition appears in the poem:

    • Lines 2-3: “something, / something ”
    • Lines 19-20: “never fell so solemnly / against”
    • Line 21: “never leaned against”

• “On Turning Ten” Vocabulary

  Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.

  • Measles
  • Mumps
  • Psyche
  • Chicken pox
  • Solemnly
  • (Location in poem: Line 5: “a kind of measles of the spirit,”)

• Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “On Turning Ten”

  • Form

  • Meter

  • Rhyme Scheme

• “On Turning Ten” Speaker

• “On Turning Ten” Setting

• Literary and Historical Context of “On Turning Ten”

• More “On Turning Ten” Resources

  • External Resources

    • An Interview with Collins — Read this 2007 interview with Billy Collins, originally published in Guernica Magazine, where he discusses his poetic style and influences.

    • Billy Collins's Biography — A detailed biography of Collins's life and career as a poet.

    • A Reading of "On Turning Ten" — Hear Billy Collins read and talk about"On Turning Ten" at the 2009 National Writing Project Annual Meeting.

  • LitCharts on Other Poems by Billy Collins

    • Afternoon with Irish Cows

    • Introduction to Poetry

    • The Art of Drowning

    • The History Teacher

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