Adulthood poems center on the themes of change, understanding, confusion, and nostalgia. The following poems explore the concept from a wide array of perspectives. Some explore the changes one comes across being an adult. While some others look back at the past and the speakers nostalgically comment on bygone days. Readers will find these adulthood poems undoubtedly enriching.
‘Babies’ by Alice Fulton describes the different ways that children and adults understand the world. The latter’s perspective is informed by years of conflict, lies that can’t be apologized for, and the realization that some parts of one’s life are so important that you only get one shot at them.
Duffy’s ‘Stafford Afternoons’ is all about a child losing her way in the adult world and coming across an offensive scene that would leave its dark imprints in her mind.
‘Portrait of Girl with Comic Book’ by Phyllis McGinley is a thoughtful piece about growing up. The speaker addresses what its like for girls to be thirteen.
‘To Any Reader’ by Robert Louis Stevenson explores the childhood experiences of a Victorian child through an adult’s perspective.
‘Rising Five’ by Norman Nicholson describes how one’s perspective on life and time changes from birth, to childhood, adulthood, and to old age.
‘Where the Sidewalk Ends’ by Shel Silverstein speaks on the important theme of growing up. The poet discusses the differences between the adult world and the mind of a child.
In her poem, ‘Half-Past Two,’ U. A. Fanthorpe utilizes childish vernacular and mismatched capitalization to reflect the stress of a young child who in the past was punished for “Something.”
‘Auguries of Innocence’ by William Blake is a poem from his notebook, known as the Pickering Manuscript. This poem by presenting a series of paradoxical ideas revolves around the theme of innocence vs experience.
In the extract of ‘The Prelude’, Wordsworth presents two contrasting ideas about nature to allow the reader to decide what nature means on a personal level.