“On Turning Ten” Introduction

• 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--

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

• Lines 5-7

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

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

• Lines 8-12

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

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

• Lines 13-16

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

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

• Lines 17-20

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

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

• Lines 21-23

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

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

• Lines 24-27

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

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

• Lines 28-32

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

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

“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

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

  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

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

  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

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

  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

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

  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

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

  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

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

  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

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

  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

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

  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

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

  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

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

  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