The final stanza of "On Turning Ten" reflects a theme of lost innocence, marking the transition from childhood to the more complex realities of growing up. The speaker's change from believing in their own light to acknowledging their vulnerability and pain encapsulates this growth.
The final stanza of a poem often serves to encapsulate the overarching theme or provide a resolution to the narrative. In the poem "On Turning Ten," the conclusion suggests a loss of innocence and a growing awareness of reality's hardships. The lines "If you cut me I could shine. But now when I fall upon the sidewalks of life, I skin my knees. I bleed" communicate this shift from a child's magical thinking to a more grounded, sometimes painful, adult perspective.
The transformation described in the poem advances the idea that with age comes a loss of the pure, idealistic view of life, moving into an awareness of life's more complex and often less whimsical truths. This is exemplified by the transition from believing one is made of light to recognizing the physical reality of skinning knees and bleeding. The discussion around the conclusion of the poem and its contribution to the theme would entail analyzing how these lines reflect the emotional and intellectual growth from childhood to approaching adolescence.