The Summer I Was Sixteen

The Summer I Was Sixteen

By Geraldine Connolly

The turquoise pool rose up to meet us,
its slide a silver afterthought down which
we plunged, screaming, into a mirage of bubbles.
We did not exist beyond the gaze of a boy.

Shaking water off our limbs, we lifted
up from ladder rungs across the fern-cool
lip of rim. Afternoon. Oiled and sated,
we sunbathed, rose and paraded the concrete,

danced to the low beat of “Duke of Earl”.
Past cherry colas, hot-dogs, Dreamsicles,
we came to the counter where bees staggered
into root beer cups and drowned. We gobbled

cotton candy torches, sweet as furtive kisses,
shared on benches beneath summer shadows.
Cherry. Elm. Sycamore. We spread our chenille
blankets across grass, pressed radios to our ears,

mouthing the old words, then loosened
thin bikini straps and rubbed baby oil with iodine
across sunburned shoulders, tossing a glance
through the chain link at an improbable world.

Summary of The Summer I Was Sixteen

  • Popularity of “The Summer I Was Sixteen”: “The Summer I Was Sixteen” by Geraldine Connolly, an American writer and poet, is a beautiful piece of poetry. The poem appeared first in her collection, Province of Fire, in 1998. The poet beautifully presents her nostalgic past when they used to enjoy swimming and sunbathing. The popularity of the poem lies in the use of flowery diction to portray the youth period.
  • “The Summer I Was Sixteen” As a Representative of Excitements of Youth: Geraldine Connolly opens the poem with a beautiful description of the “turquoise pool” personifying it as if it has life and emotions of its own. They used to plunge, scream, and bubble in the pool with the boys looking at them. They used to shake off water from their limbs, enjoying on the bank of the pool. In the late afternoon, they used to stroll on the concrete pavement and sunbathe there. They used to dance to the tunes of the song of “Duke of Earl” and enjoy hot dogs, cherry colas, and beer cups while drowning in the pool. These activities also include some youthful acts such as kissing in the shadows of the trees, lying on the grass and listening to radios. The girls used to anoint themselves in their bikini, rubbing oil on their sunburned shoulders with great prospects of future in their eyes after looking at the world beyond the pool.
  • Major Themes in “The Summer I Was Sixteen”: Activities of the young period, enjoyment, and nostalgic memories are three major themes of the poem. Although Geraldine enjoys recalling the activities that they used to enjoy on the swimming pool, play with the boys and listen to music. These enjoyments have their own flavor, their own color, and their own excitement. In the midst of these memories, the poet enjoys that they used to have everything that the young people could have vied for. These memories make her feel nostalgic about the past when they used to sunbathe and see “the improbable world” lying in front of them with multiple prospects.

Analysis of Poetic Devices Used in “The Summer I Was Sixteen”

literary devices are essential for poetic or prose writing to make the text beautiful and worth reading. The analysis of these devices in the poem as given below shows this fact.

  1. Assonance: Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in the same line such as the sound of /o/ in “The turquoise pool rose to meet us”, /a/ in “Shaking water off our limbs, we lifted” and the sound of /e/ in “shared on benches beneath summer shadows.”
  2. Alliteration: It is the use of successive consonant sounds in the initials of the successive words such as /b/ in “benches beneath.”
  3. Consonance: Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line such as the sound of /m/ and /b/ in “we plunged, screaming, into a mirage of bubbles”, /k/ and /r/ in “We sunbathed, rose and paraded the concrete,” and the sound of /r/ and /s/ in “blankets across grass, pressed radios to our ears.”
  4. Enjambment: It is defined as a thought in verse that does not come to an end at a line break; rather, it rolls over to the next line. For example;

mouthing the old words, then loosened
thin bikini straps and rubbed baby oil with iodine
across sunburned shoulders, tossing a glance
through the chain link at an improbable world.

  1. Imagery: Imagery is used to make readers perceive things involving their five senses. The poem shows the use of imagery such as “danced to the low beat of “Duke of Earl”, “cotton candy torches, sweet furtive kisses” and “blankets across grass, pressed radios to our ears.”
  2. Metaphor: It is a figure of speech in which an implied comparison is made between the objects that are different. The poem shows the use of metaphors such as of pool, lip, and bees. All three have been compared to something else.
  3. Personification: The poet has shown the use of personifications of the pool as if it has life and emotions of its own.
  4. Symbolism: Symbolism is using symbols to signify ideas and qualities, giving them symbolic meanings that are different from literal meanings. The poem shows the use of religious symbols such as gaze, kisses, and toss to show the world of youthful love.

Analysis of Poetic Devices Used in “The Summer I Was Sixteen”

Poetic and literary devices are the same, but a few are used only in poetry. Here is the analysis of some of the poetic devices used in this poem.

  1. Diction and Tone: The poem shows highly descriptive diction. Its tone, however, is exciting, thrilling, and happy.
  2. Free Verse: The poem does not follow any rhyme scheme which means that it is a free verse poem.
  3. Stanza: A stanza is a poetic form of some lines. There are five stanzas with each having four verses in it.

Quotes to be Used

These lines from “The Summer I Was Sixteen” are relevant to quote when delivering a lecture about the memorable youthful period.

mouthing the old words, then loosened
thin bikini straps and rubbed baby oil with iodine
across sunburned shoulders, tossing a glance
through the chain link at an improbable world.