CHILDHOOD by Marcus Natten.

Q) Identify the stanza that talks of each of the following.

Answer - Individuality - Stanza 3
Rationalism - Stanza 1
Hypocrisy - Stanza 2
Q) What according to the poem is involved in the process of growing up?
Answer- Throughout the poem, the poet talks about the loss of childhood that
happens in the process of growing up. It involves the understanding of what is
real and what is imaginary, rationality, self confidence, individuality, identifying
hypocrisy of the adults, and also being able to think independently and make
decisions.
Q) Which do you think are the most poetic lines? Why?
Answer: The following lines in the poem are most poetic:
″It went to some forgotten place
That’s hidden in an infant’s face,
That’s all I know.″
These metaphorical lines beautifully sum up the process of growth and the
disappearance of childhood. The infant’s innocent face hides many things
behind its smiles, and the beautiful experience of childhood is one of them.
Q) Explain: ″I found my mind was really mine.″
Answer: The realization that he was the master of his own mind, and could use
it in any way he liked, filled him with self confidence. He could now think
independently and need not be a puppet to the teachings of other people.
Q) What did the speaker learn about the existence of Heaven and Hell ?
Answer: The speaker grew up knowing that Heaven and Hell are in the sky or
somewhere on Earth. As he grew up to be mature, he began thinking logically.
He realized that Hell and Heaven could not be found in Geography books And
maps, and hence, they did not exist.
Q) How did the speaker realise the hypocrisy of the adults?
Answer: The speaker noticed a huge difference between what adults preached
and what they actually practiced. They talked of love and advised others to love,
but they never acted lovingly.
Q) Why do you think the poet feels that his childhood had hidden itself in
an infant’s face?
Answer: Childhood can be experienced only once and cannot be brought back.
At first the poet feels that his childhood had gone to some forgotten place. Then,
looking at the face of an infant he feels that childhood resides in the innocence
of an infant’s face and nowhere else.
Figures of Speech.
1) When did my childhood go? Rhetorical Question,
2) Was it the time I realised that Hell and Heaven, Alliteration, Antithesis
3) It went to some forgotten place, Personification
4) Was it when I found my mind was really mine, Alliteration