Summary Of On Turning Ten By Billy Collins

When we grow up we forget how to have fun. In billy Collins’ poem “On Turning Ten” he reminisces on his childhood. The poem describes the antics of his youth and the problems of growing old. Through the use of imagery and metaphors, Collins communicates that the process of growing older marks the beginning of reality, subsequently ending an innocent imagination and happiness.

In the last stanza of the poem Collins uses a metaphor comparing light to a naive sense of being unconquerable and blood to reality to convey the idea of being stripped from the world of childhood and as a result the reality for him begins. Collins recalls what he used to believe that:

It seems only yesterday I used to believe

There was nothing under my skin but light.

If you cut me I could shine.

But now when I fall upon the sidewalks of life,

I skin my knees. I bleed (28-32).

Collins used to believe that there was nothing but “light” under his skin, this represents how he used to feel untouchable as if he could conquer the world on his own. He believed even if he was cut he wouldn’t get hurt he would just shine, however as he grew older he realized that no matter how much he believed he couldn’t be hurt when actually cut he bled. This bloodshed represents the beginning of reality for him, pulled from an imaginary world created by the ideals of his childhood.

Collins reminisces all of what his adolescent imagination thought up, becoming things that don’t exist and doing the impossible. Despite Collins being older he says:

But I can lie on my bed and remember every digit.

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. (12-16

).
It’s obvious that it is nonsensical to believe you are an actual wizard, a soldier and a prince. It is also naive to believe you can turn invisible just by drinking, however the point of this in the stanza is to illustrate the ignorance of a child’s imagination. Collins clearly depicts the wild and innocent imagination he once had, however this changes as you grow older. Once having realized the problems of the real world, Collins has to let go of that senseless imagination he used to have. His imagination comes to an end because no adult or boss will deal with the immaturity of such thinking.
Collins then portrays himself having lost his imagination and enlightened of the realities of growing up and eventually all these factors lead to the end of his happiness.

Collins realizes he was not prepared for the real world and concludes the realities he faces mark the “...beginning of sadness I say to myself/ as I walk through the universe in my sneakers.” Collins paints a picture of himself still unready for the responsibilities and hardships that he’s realized. It is evident that he’s still not ready because sneakers are associated with the idea of youth and when you’re an adult you may have to change what you wear in order to be taken seriously, especially for the workplace. As we grow older people are forced to change and the culmination of losing our innocent imagination and naive view on the world people forget how to have fun, thus ending happiness

altogether.
Collins uses metaphors and imagery to express how growing old marks the end of your imagination, happiness and the beginning of reality. Throughout the poem he recalls his youth what he believed, what he imagined, and the realizations he came to. In this poem Collins’ outlook on growing up is negative and the aspects of your life that made you happy come to an end. Overall he’s not only saying that growing up is sad but that you must also cherish your youth because before you know it you will face problems you can’t solve and realize the ideal world you thought it was isn’t what it turned out to be.