"To My Nine-Year-Old Self" was written by British poet, novelist, and short story writer Helen Dunmore. First published in 2007 in the poetry collection Glad of These Times, the poem is framed as a dramatic monologue delivered by the speaker to her childhood self. The poem expresses fondness and nostalgia for the wonder and curiosity of childhood, while also acknowledging the impassable divide between maturity and innocence. In acknowledging this, the poem suggests, one can move on from the past and into a state of peace and acceptance. Like much of Dunmore's work, the poem is written in free verse.

• Read the full text of “To My Nine-Year-Old Self”

• “To My Nine-Year-Old Self” Summary

• “To My Nine-Year-Old Self” Themes

  • 

    The Joy and Innocence of Childhood

    Where this theme appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-32

• Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “To My Nine-Year-Old Self”

  • Lines 1-5

    You must forgive ...
    ... height than anything.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 6-8

    I have spoiled ...
    ... a bruised foot.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 9-11

    Do you remember ...
    ... the summer morning?

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 12-15

    That dream we ...
    ... sherbet lemons –

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 16-18

    and besides, that ...
    ... by the cesspit.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 19-21

    I’d like to ...
    ... keep you then.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 22-26

    Time to pick ...
    ... from that tree

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 27-29

    long buried in ...
    ... us both –

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 30-32

    I leave you ...
    ... on your tongue.

    

    

    

    

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• “To My Nine-Year-Old Self” Symbols

  • 

    Scars

    Where this symbol appears in the poem:

    • Line 7: “Look at the scars”
    • Lines 31-32: “slowly peeling a ripe scab from your knee / to taste it on your tongue.”
  • 

    White Paper

    Where this symbol appears in the poem:

    • Lines 12-13: “That dream we had, no doubt it’s as fresh in your mind / as the white paper to write it on.”
  • 

    Summer

    Where this symbol appears in the poem:

    • Lines 9-11: “Do you remember how, three minutes after waking / we’d jump straight out of the ground floor window / into the summer morning?”
    • Line 16: “and besides, that summer of ambition”
  • 

    The Rope Swing

    Where this symbol appears in the poem:

    • Lines 25-27: “or to lunge out over the water / on a rope that swings from that tree / long buried in housing –”

• “To My Nine-Year-Old Self” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

  • Imagery

    

    

    

    

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    Where imagery appears in the poem:

    • Line 3
    • Lines 4-5
    • Lines 7-8
    • Lines 10-11
    • Lines 12-13
    • Lines 15-18
    • Lines 22-28
    • Lines 30-32

  • Anaphora

    

    

    

    

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    Where anaphora appears in the poem:

    • Lines 4-5: “rather run than walk, rather climb than run / rather leap from a height than anything.”
    • Lines 22-23: “Time to pick rosehips for tuppence a pound, / time to hide down scared lanes”

  • Caesura

    

    

    

    

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    Where caesura appears in the poem:

    • Line 1: “me. Don’t”
    • Line 2: “perplexed, and”
    • Line 4: “walk, rather”
    • Line 7: “scars, and”
    • Line 9: “how, three”
    • Line 12: “had, no”
    • Line 14: “start, but”
    • Line 15: “vole, or”
    • Line 16: “besides, that”
    • Line 17: “factory, a”
    • Line 21: “years. I”
    • Line 28: “no, I,” “morning. God”

  • Enjambment

    

    

    

    

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    Where enjambment appears in the poem:

    • Lines 4-5: “run / rather”
    • Lines 9-10: “waking / we’d”
    • Lines 10-11: “window / into”
    • Lines 12-13: “mind / as”
    • Lines 16-17: “ambition / created”
    • Lines 17-18: “trap / and”
    • Lines 19-20: “friends / but”
    • Lines 20-21: “common / beyond”
    • Lines 23-24: “lanes / from”
    • Lines 25-26: “water / on”
    • Lines 26-27: “tree / long”
    • Lines 28-29: “knows / I”
    • Lines 30-31: “concentration / slowly”
    • Lines 31-32: “knee / to”

  • Alliteration

    

    

    

    

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    Where alliteration appears in the poem:

    • Line 1: “so,” “surprised”
    • Line 4: “would,” “rather,” “run,” “walk,” “rather,” “run”
    • Line 5: “rather”
    • Line 6: “spoiled”
    • Line 7: “scars,” “watch,” “way”
    • Line 8: “bad,” “back,” “bruised”
    • Line 9: “waking”
    • Line 10: “we’d,” “window”
    • Line 12: “dream,” “doubt”
    • Line 14: “start,” “something”
    • Line 15: “baby,” “bag”
    • Line 16: “besides”
    • Line 21: “years,” “you”
    • Line 22: “Time,” “to,” “pick,” “tuppence,” “pound”
    • Line 23: “time,” “to”
    • Line 29: “fears,” “for”
    • Line 30: “concentration”
    • Line 31: “slowly,” “scab”
    • Line 32: “to,” “taste,” “tongue”

  • Consonance

    

    

    

    

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    Where consonance appears in the poem:

    • Line 1: “must,” “so,” “surprised”
    • Line 2: “perplexed,” “eager,” “gone”
    • Line 3: “balancing”
    • Line 4: “would,” “rather,” “run,” “than,” “walk,” “rather,” “than,” “run”
    • Line 5: “rather,” “from,” “than,” “anything”
    • Line 6: “spoiled,” “this,” “once”
    • Line 7: “Look,” “scars,” “watch,” “way”
    • Line 8: “careful,” “bad,” “back,” “bruised”
    • Line 9: “remember,” “minutes,” “waking”
    • Line 10: “we’d,” “jump,” “ground,” “window”
    • Line 11: “into,” “summer,” “morning”
    • Line 12: “dream,” “had,” “doubt,” “mind”
    • Line 13: “paper”
    • Line 14: “start,” “something,” “else,” “up”
    • Line 15: “baby,” “bag,” “sherbet”
    • Line 16: “besides,” “summer”
    • Line 17: “ice,” “wasp,” “trap”
    • Line 18: “cesspit”
    • Line 20: “common”
    • Line 21: “keep”
    • Line 22: “Time,” “to,” “pick,” “rosehips,” “tuppence,” “pound”
    • Line 23: “time,” “to,” “hide,” “down,” “scared,” “lanes”
    • Line 24: “from,” “men,” “cars,” “girl,” “children”
    • Line 25: “lunge”
    • Line 28: “no,” “shan’t,” “morning,” “knows”
    • Line 29: “fears,” “enough,” “for,” “us”
    • Line 30: “leave,” “ecstasy,” “concentration”
    • Line 31: “slowly,” “peeling,” “ripe,” “scab”
    • Line 32: “to,” “taste,” “it,” “tongue”

  • Assonance

    

    

    

    

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    Where assonance appears in the poem:

    • Line 1: “Don’t,” “so”
    • Line 2: “eager,” “be,” “gone”
    • Line 3: “on,” “on”
    • Line 7: “scars”
    • Line 8: “bad,” “back,” “bruised”
    • Line 9: “Do,” “you”
    • Line 10: “out,” “ground”
    • Line 12: “dream,” “we,” “mind”
    • Line 13: “white,” “write”
    • Line 14: “made,” “came”
    • Line 15: “baby,” “sherbet,” “lemons”
    • Line 18: “den,” “cesspit”
    • Line 19: “I’d,” “like,” “we,” “be”
    • Line 20: “nothing,” “common”
    • Line 21: “beyond,” “years,” “keep”
    • Line 22: “Time,” “pick,” “rosehips”
    • Line 23: “time,” “hide”
    • Line 25: “over”
    • Line 26: “rope”
    • Line 28: “no,” “your,” “morning,” “knows”
    • Line 29: “enough,” “us,” “both”
    • Line 30: “leave,” “ecstasy”
    • Line 31: “slowly,” “peeling,” “knee”

  • Simile

    

    

    

    

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    Where simile appears in the poem:

    • Lines 12-13: “That dream we had, no doubt it’s as fresh in your mind / as the white paper to write it on.”

• “To My Nine-Year-Old Self” Vocabulary

  Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.

  • Perplexed
  • Sherbet lemons
  • Ice-lolly
  • Cesspit
  • Rosehips
  • Tuppence
  • Shan't
  • Ecstasy
  • (Location in poem: Line 2: “perplexed”)

• Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “To My Nine-Year-Old Self”

  • Form

  • Meter

  • Rhyme Scheme

• “To My Nine-Year-Old Self” Speaker

• “To My Nine-Year-Old Self” Setting

• Literary and Historical Context of “To My Nine-Year-Old Self”

• More “To My Nine-Year-Old Self” Resources

  • External Resources

    • Helen Dunmore's Legacy — Read about Dunmore's lasting legacy after her death.

    • "To My Nine-Year-Old Self" Read Aloud — Listen to a reading of the entire poem.

    • Dunmore's Obituary — Read about Dunmore's life and accomplishments in her obituary published in 2017.

    • Helen Dunmore on Conflicts — Listen to poet and author Dunmore speak on the theme of conflict in her work.

    • Tribute to Helen Dunmore by Her Son — Read a tribute to Dunmore written by her son.

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