Now consider the poem “On Turning Ten” by Billy Collins. Reread lines 5-7: “a kind of measles of the spirit, / a mumps of the psyche, / the disfiguring chickenpox of the soul.”

What does this description reveal about the speaker's attitude, or tone, towards aging?


a.The speaker feels physically nauseated by age and older people.


b.The speaker compares aging to sickness, believing it to be a physically difficult process.


c.The speaker fears aging because he associates it with sickness and dying.


d.The speaker compares his feelings about growing up to sickness, suggesting that he does not have a positive outlook on it.