Poem 4 - Childhood

This article will help you to learn about the summary, characters and theme of the NCERT Class 11 English Hornbill – Childhood. It will help you to understand the gist of the poem and the important phrases used. To find answers to questions related to this poem, you can download Childhood Class 11 NCERT Solutions PDF.

Summary

The poem ‘Childhood’ by Markus Natten is a beautiful poem which talks about childhood. This poem depicts the reality of innocent childhood gradually transforms into adulthood which brings complexity in life. The poem starts with the poet questioning about his childhood being lost. He wonders where his childhood is lost and at what point?

The poet tries to introspect when his childhood was lost. He tries to question according to the phases of life like reaching the age of eleven or the day he could distinguish between reality and fantasy. Natten also feels that he might have lost his childhood at the point where he understood that heaven and hell cannot be found in geography books or was it the day he could feel the hypocrisy of adults where people talked about love but never acted that way. He thought that everyone was pretentious, and their actions do not coordinate with their words.

Natten also questions whether he lost his childhood the day he realised he had his mind and could reason, independent of others. He felt maybe he lost his innocence of childhood when he understood his potential and personality, which was different from others.

In the concluding lines, the poet does not come to a conclusion where he lost his childhood. However, he feels that pure innocence is lost amidst growing up and building one’s personality. He agrees on the point that as you grow, you lose that innocence as you prepare yourself to face the harsh real world outside. He feels that his innocence might have gone to an infant’s face. This shows the poet’s perception that childhood is a cyclic process and leaves the life of one person and goes to another.

The poet ponders upon the questions of life which many might have faced in life. Ultimately, the poet realises that his childhood has left him forever and might never return to him. Childhood is merely a memory for him now.

In this poem, the poet beautifully brings out a concept which you all would come across in your lives. As time passes, life becomes more practical and more complex. The phase of childhood is always considered the best and filled with innocence. This poem talks about lost childhood and reaching adulthood in life. During the childhood days, all are in a hurry to grow up faster as it feels you get more freedom, but once you reach adulthood, you feel like going back to those stress-free days of pure bliss. This is the reality of life.

To find answers to all questions relating to this poem, refer to NCERT Solutions for Class 11 English Hornbill Childhood. You can also download the Childhood Poem Extra Question and Answers.