Childhood

The speaker pondered deeply upon the

spiritual questions of life and ultimately
realized the fact that his childhood days had
finally gone for good and would never return.
Childhood would now only remain in his
memories. He wondered if the end of
childhood was the day he ceased to be eleven
years old and became independent mentally
as well as physically as independence is the
first step towards adulthood.

The time when he realized that Heaven and

earth could not be found in Geography and
never could be. Where did his childhood go?
Was it the time he realized that adults were
not all they seemed to be? They talked of love
and they preached of love, but did not act so
lovingly nor practiced what they preached.
Was that the day.

Where did his childhood go? Was it when he

found out that his mind was really his? To use
it whichever way he chose? To produce
thoughts that was not those of other people
but his and his alone. Was that the da ?
Where did his childhood go? It went to some
forgotten place that is hidden in a baby's face.
That was all that he knew and that was all
that he remembered.

The poet feels that heaven and hell are not

real places because they cannot be located in
geography. In the poem 'Childhood', the poet
is trying to realize the time when he lost his
childhood, when he became mature enough to
understand the worldly things. So he keeps
saying, "when did my childhood go?" He finally
realizes that his his childhood is gone to
"some forgotten place", "that is hidden in an
infant's face.

"Wordsworth in his poem, My Heart Leaps Up,

said, "Child is the father of man". Markus
Natten in his poem 'Childhood' has tried to
explain the same thought. It is child who is
noble and pure in her/his thoughts and heart.
A child appreciates the nature's beauty and
innocence in the world. A child is one who
teaches a human being to selflessly
appreciate simple love and natural wonders.
The poet feels nostalgic about his
childhood.Childhood means innocence and
loss of it means loss of innocence.The poet
suffers from a sense of loss and speculates
when he suffered that loss.He ponders over
the difference between innocence and
hypocrisy and comes to the conclusion that
perhaps when he learned to see through the
crafty and hypocratic nature of adults he lost
his childhood.He repeats the same question
throughout the poem-'When did my childhood
go?' but in the last para his question changes
and he wants to know the place where did his
childhood go' and finds the answer that it is
hidden in an infant's face.
1 . One out of two extracts based on poetry
from the text to test reference to
context, comprehension and
appreciation. (01x04= 04 Marks)
A. Read the stanza given below and
answer the questions that follow:
- "When did my childhood go?Was
it the day I ceased to be eleven,
Was it the time I realised that Hell
and Heaven,
Could not be found in Geography,
And therefore could not be,
Was that the day!"
a. How did the poet realise his
being grown up?
b. What does the Hell and
heaven stand for?
c. What kind of phase of his
life does the stanza reveal?
d. What is the poet asking for?
Ans. a. The poet realised his
being grown up, when he
was able to differentiate
between truth and fiction. /
when he was analysing the
statement of adults.
 Ans. b. It stands for the
world of imagination that
fascinates only small
children ./ These are nothing
but the product of our
imaginative mind that helps
the person to escape f ram
reality.
Ans. c. The stanza reveals
the phase of rationalism
where he is using his seat of
reasoning.
Ans. d. He is asking for the
time when his childhood
went.
8. Read the stanza given below and
answer the questions that follow:
"When did my childhood go?
Was it the time I realised that
adults were not
All they seemed to be,
They talked of love and preached
of love,
But did not act so lovingly,
Was that the day!"
'i. Wflaf does the stanza
expose?
ii. According to the poem when
did his childhood go?
iii. What contrast did he find in
adult's behaviour?
iv. How did he find the
hypocrisy in adult's
behaviour?
Ans.1. The stanza exposes
the hypocrisy of the adult.
Ans.2. It might go when he
was able to analyse the
contrast of adult's way of
thinking and way of life.
Ans.3. They talked of human
values but did not practise in
their day to day life.
Ans.4. He found that they
pretend to have certain belief
that they do not really have.
C. Read the stanza given below and
answer the questions that follow:
"When did my childhood go?
Was it when I found my mind was
really mine,
To use whichever way I choose,
Producing thoughts that were not
those of other people
But my own, and mine alone
Was that the day!"
i. What do the words 'My own'
and 'mine' stand for?
ii. When did his childhood go?
iii. Which phase of life does this
stanza show?
iv. Why did he choose his way?
Ans.1. Its shows the
independent way of thinking
of a grown-up/ It reveals the
development of his own seat
of reasoning.
Ans.2. It might go when I
realised his 'self-
thinking.'/When he was able
to take his own decision.
 Ans.3. Individuality,
transitional period - between
childhood and grown up.
Ans.4. He chose his way to
express his own views. / To
show his self - confidence.
D. Read the stanza given below and
answer the questions that follow:
"Where did my childhood go?
It went to some forgotten place,
That's hidden in an infant's face,
That's all I know."
i. What does the first line
suggest?
ii. What would the 'forgotten
place' stand for ?
iii. What does he know about
his childhood?
iv. Find out the rhyme scheme
in the present stanza.
Ans.1. It suggests place
where his childhood went.
Ans.2. 'Forgotten place'
stand for the childhood that
cannot be regained or
restored.
 Ans.3. He knows that
childhood is the state of
mind of a person it will
reside in an infant's face
only.
Ans.4. abba.

Answer the following question up to 40

words.

1 . How does the poet describe the

process of being grown up?
Ans. The process of being grown up
develops the critical thinking and
analytical point of view in the person. It
makes the person rationalized and abled
to take his decision by virtue of his seat
of reasoning.
 or reasoning .
2. How does the poet repent on his loss of
childhood?
Ans. He expresses concern over his
ch ild ho od 's disappearance. Childhood
ca nn ot be regained . It keeps our life
al oo f fro m th e world of hypocrisy, bitter
reality and ma te ria lis m .
3. The poet has asked two questions one
is about the time and other is about the
place. Why has he used these
questions?
Ans: He has used these tw o questions
to int er pr et th e tim e and place of way of
go ing his childhood away. 'When' points
ou t th e process of being rational at a
pa rti cu lar tim e and 'where' states the
pla ce where th e innocent world of
ch ild ho od resides.
 Page No: 59 Think It Out

1. Identify the stanzas that talks of each of

the following.
Individuality, rationalism, hypocrisy
Answer: Individuality- Third stanza
Rationalism- First stanza
Hypocrisy- Second stanza

2. What according to the poem is involved in

the process of growing up?
Answer: According to the poem, the process
of grow ing up involves the atta inm ent of
men tal mat urity and loss of innocence and
sim plic ity. A person is said to be grown up
when he has bec ome logical, rational and is
able to build his own thou ghts . A grown up
has the power to dist ingu ish between reality
and fant asy.
A grow n up individual understands the acti ons
of othe rs just as the poe t recognises the
hiat us between the preaching and the practice
of the adults. He realises the hypocrisy and
the dou ble stan dard s maintained by the
adults. A mat ure individual also asserts his
thou ghts and opinions.
3. What is the poet's feeling towards
childhood?
Answer: The poet feels that child hood is a
period of inno cenc e and simp licity , a time
when one trust s othe r with out askin g for
logic . He does not appe ar to feel sad or upse t
at the loss of his child hood . He only seem s to
be puzzled at the disa ppea ranc e of child hood
and the arrival of adul thoo d. He expr esse s his
conf usio n when he asks the ques tions 'When'
and 'Where did my child hood go'?

4. Which do you think are the most poetic

lines? Why?
Answer: The last stanza of the poem seem s
to be the mos t poetic, whic h is:
'It wen t to som e forgo tten place,
That's hidden in an infan t's face;
That's all I know.'
These lines sum up beau tifull y the proc ess of
grow th and the disa ppea ranc e of a parti cula r
stag e of life. These lines express
meta phor ically that an infan t's inno cent face
hide s man y thing s behind its smil es. He seek s
sola ce in the fact that the virtu es of child hood
are not perm anen tly gone but perh aps it lies
confusion when he asks the questions 'When'
and 'Where did my childhood go'?

4. Which do you think are the most poetic

lines? Why?
Answer: The last stanza of the poem seems
to be the most poetic, which is:
'It went to some forgotten place,
That's hidden in an infant's face;
That's all I know.'
These lines sum up beautifully the process of
growth and the disappearance of a particular
stage of life. These lines express
metaphorically that an infant's innocent face
hides many things behind its smiles. He seeks
solace in the fact that the virtues of childhood
are not permanently gone but perhaps it lies
hidden somewhere in the child's
consciousness.