Poem Analysis: On Turning Ten By Billy Collins

What I believe Billy Collins in his poem “Introduction to Poetry” is how he believes poetry should be read. It teaches the reader how to go into a poem, in the form of a poem. What really stood out to me is how there is a lot of excellent use of literary devices to help create imagery for the reader to help grasp Collins’ message. On line 3, Collins uses a simile: “like a color slide” saying that the reader must look through the color slide (the poem) in order to focus in and search for the picture (the message). After this, Collins provides three metaphors to illustrate his message. In one of these three metaphors, he says “I want them to waterski across the surface of the poem waving at the author’s name on the shore.” Like the other two

We often don’t realize the harmful aspects that come along with growing up. Billy Collins’ poem, “On Turning Ten” elaborates on this idea and conveys how these aspects affect us. In his poem, the speaker is about to turn the age of ten, making him realize he is no longer like his younger self. As the speaker explains the frightening idea of turning ten, he also reminisces about his happy childhood. The speaker then explains his sadness over losing the innocent part of his younger self and soon realizes the difficulty of aging. By using metaphors and imagery, Collins communicates that as we lose our innocence when we grow up, it negatively changes our perspective of maturity from an oblivious view to a harsher point of view.

The ideas that Steve Lawhead presents in his poem “The sun goes down on summer” reflect my own feeling and thoughts as I begin school this August. For example, in second stanzas of the poem he says “Instead, the day rush headlong into change and I feel like nothing’s ever going to be same.” This related to me because there are many things that I hope they will never change. Just like wheat he says, even though I know I can’t stop it from changing. I still wish form the bottom of my heart that they will never change; because that really will make my life much easier. Later in the poem he says “I’ll look real hard for my last-year’s friend to get me from one scrambled class to another, through halls crawling with

Although this is a short poem, there are so many different meanings that can come from the piece. With different literary poetic devices such as similes, imagery, and symbolism different people take away different things from the poem. One of my classmates saw it as an extended metaphor after searching for a deeper connection with the author. After some research on the author, we came to learn that the

I choose the poem “Adage” by Billy Collins. because, he describes fairly accurately how it feels to fall in love. And describes it in a way that only people that have fallen in love hard can understand. He makes you feel certain things and if it hits a certain spot it makes the memories come back. It forces you to understand how you feel. "

Billy Collins uses dark rooms, oceans, hives, color slides and mouse mazes to describe his poem “Introduction to Poetry”, but also a way to analyze poetry in general. Growing up, students are advised by teachers how to analyze poetry. The speaker of Introduction to Poetry, Billy Collins, attempts to guide the readers by teaching them a unique and appropriate way to analyze poetry. The use of personification and imagery, by the author, gives the readers a new perspective to interpret and find the significance in poetry. In this particular poem, the speaker does not want the reader to listen to the teachers of the reader’s past, “tie the poem to a chair with rope and torture a

In the poem, “35/10” by Sharon Olds, the speaker uses wistful and jealous tones to convey her feeling about her daughter’s coming of age. The speaker, a thirty-five year old woman, realizes that as the door to womanhood is opening for her ten year old daughter, it is starting to close for her. A wistful tone is used when the speaker calls herself, “the silver-haired servant” (4) behind her daughter, indicating that she wishes she was not the servant, but the served. Referring to herself as her daughter’s servant indicates a sense of self-awareness in the speaker. She senses her power is weakening and her daughter’s power is strengthening. It also shows wistfulness for her diminishing youth, and sadness for her advancing years. This

The sense throughout the entire poem is that the speaker is nervous about embarking on a new journey in their life. Something encapsulated perfectly when the speaker says “this is the beginning of sadness, I say to myself” (24). The irony here is that many children dream of becoming older from the time they can talk. Hell, maybe even before that. They see a distorted view of freedom in adulthood and oppression in childhood. This speaker’s view of blossoming out of childhood, however, is bleak and contrast with what most children want. Maybe the speaker is scared of getting closer to going to high school, having to leave certain things or people behind or, maybe they just fear change in general. The poem does not hand the correct interpretation to the reader and leaves it up for interpretation, something that makes the poem more powerful by allowing the reader to draw their own conclusions as to why the speaker is apprehensive about reaching their new milestone. Thus rings the bell, calling for a pause of reading and the start of thinking. This openness leaves different readers with different backgrounds, different experiences and different personalities to all read differently into what the speaker fears about growing up. A reader who grew up affluent may attribute this concern as a normal progression of feelings which starts as fear but grows into excitement due to having new experiences to enjoy. A reader who grew up poor may think the speaker realizes they will have to make tough decisions to survive and that the best years of their life are behind them. This openness of having different people read differently into the speaker’s irony is why a thirty-two-line poem leads to an infinite amount of interpretations. As well as being used for humour, irony is also used to highlight certain expectations of growing

This poem takes a simple subject and adds a very interesting perspective to the way we look at it. Even the name is unusual “Introduction to Poetry” it sounds like a chapter in one of our literary books. We get this classroom feeling from the title all the way to the last stanza it sounds like a teacher speaking to another teacher, telling them how their poetry lesson went. This poem takes into account how linear people can be when it comes to poetry usually they don’t care for the detail they just want the meaning of the poem and be done with it. But poetry is meant to be experienced and along the way we may find a meaning to the poet’s words.

“Embrace” by Billy Collins seems to be another poem which is lighthearted at first but, when the words are analyzed, is actually quite dark (I’m referring to “My Papa’s Waltz which the majority of the class agreed was actually abuse). The first stanza of “Embrace” is amusing. The act of wrapping one’s arms around oneself is generally thought to be funny. The first lines show little hint of the second half of the poem. Stanza two is the exact opposite of the first. In movies, the technique is sometimes used by someone to tease a friend, but in this poem, it brings a feeling of loneliness. Collins compares it to a fitting for a straitjacket. From the front, nothing is friendly or funny about the situation. Collins explicitly mentions the stark

Initially, Collins demonstrates how one can weigh a dog’s weight with his method. Concrete diction in the first stanza, such as, “ small bathroom”, “ balancing”, and “shaky” suggest the uncomfortable nature of his intimate relationship with his pet. Although Collin is unappreciated for the gritty toil determination, he praise himself to applauded that “this is the way” and raising his self-esteem by comparing how easier it is than to train his dog obesity. In addition, the negative diction used to describe Collin holding his dog to be “awkward” for him and “bewildering” for his pet. This establish he rather force love rather willing show patience. When holding a pet on scale, there is less hustle because he secures the dog’s position by carrying it. Where as when he orders the dog to stay on the weighing scale with a cookie, his dog only followed him because of the expected reward.

You selected a few different poems to interpret this week then my self. You have a marvelous post summarizing each peculiar one. I likewise read Nostalgia by Billy Collins this week. My conception of the author is he practically ridicules the diverse periods of time as they were portrayed. I enjoyed this poem considering the composer certainly drives the point home with this topic. An abundance of humanity complains about past generations although trends were not the greatest it's persistent rebalance of pros and cons about all aspects of life. I couldn't agree more with you that the theme of the poem demonstrates that humanity wishes regression to the way life once

Adair Billy is quite connected to her Indian identity, although it does not seem like it. She lives in New Orleans, Louisiana, working as a stockbroker for a large firm, where she is highly sought after and praised for her abilities. She made a name for herself there by saving many clients a lot of money, she woke up to a voice telling her about a company that was not doing well. She removed her clients from the firm going under, many believing that it was her Native upbringing, and they are not wrong. In addition to this, Adair has a strong interest in early Indian commerce and relations within New Orleans. This causes her to believe that her job as a stockbroker is connected to her Indian identity, the narrator saying, “Adair tells herself she’s following a tradition established by her ancestors. After all, Indians were the first commodity traders of the New World” (Howe 42). She has found a way to incorporate her background into her life, even though she is not living in Durant, Oklahoma anymore. Her Indian identity is present within her career and interests, different from the way Auda’s is present, and different from the way Tema Billy’s is as well.

While reading the poem “Introduction to Poetry,” Billy Collins sends a message to the readers that they should be patient and impartial when it comes to analyzing a poem in order to see the true meaning behind the without being over analytical. There is a revieting situation that takes place because Billy Collins is delivering his message to all readers about the way that one should be able to read a poem. This poems educates the reader on how to be able to read and plunge into a poem, through using many techniques like mood, tone, and literary devices to do so. In the first two lines Collins demands that we tackle a poem with a invigorating eye. There should be an exploration of what the poem means to us. How does this poem apply to our

Everyday that passes marks another day older. For some people that is horrifying because they do not know what will happen tomorrow. For others, however, see the next day as a day to try new things. In the poem “On Turning Ten” by Billy Collins, a child struggles with the idea of growing up. He reflects on his past and tries to cope with growing up and entering the adult world. The speaker’s feelings and reflections throughout the poem demonstrate how the speaker copes with growing up by remembering his childhood. The speaker reveals that growing up means facing the harsh realities of the world. Collins metaphorically explains that no one can ever be prepared for the adult or “real” world.