Childhood – Class XI

Childhood is written by Marcus Natten. In this poem, the poet thinks over his lost
childhood. He wonders about the moment where he lost his innocence and realized
that the world is not what he seemed it to be. He recalls when his thoughts changed
and he realized the hypocrisy of the people around him. He finally settled down to the
idea that his childhood went to some forgotten place and is hidden in the face of an
innocent infant.

Childhood Summary – In the poem, the poet wonders when he lost his childhood and
the innocence he had. He became conscious that he no longer sees the world as he did
earlier and he can sense the hypocrisy in people. He recalled many instances in his life
when he could have lost his childhood. He wondered if it was the day he ceased to be
eleven or he realized that Hell and Heaven didn’t exist in this world and no one could
find them in the geography. Next, he talks about the possibility when he realized that
adults are not what they seemed to be and they are hypocrites. They talk and preach
of love but their actions don’t say so. Was it the day when he realized that his mind
was his own and capable of producing his own thoughts? No one could own that and
he is an individual with his particular personality. In the last stanza, he talks about the
whereabouts of his childhood. He concludes that it had gone to some forgotten place
and it can only be found in the innocent face of an infant.

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Fernando