POEM – CHILDHOOD

BY - Markus Natten
 About the Poem
▶ The poem “Childhood’ deals with the
poet’s curiosity to know when actually
an individual ceases to be a child .He
wonders whether it is the age or the
stage when the young ,unsullied mind
learns to see through the adults’
hypocrisy and identifies his own
distinctiveness. Childhood disappears
to hide itself in an infant’s innocent
expression.
 ABOUT THE POET
Markus Natten is a renowned Norwegian poet. Born on
March 14, 1917, in Oslo, Norway

-
best known for his introspective and contemplative
poetry that explores themes of love, loss, solitude, and
the human condition.
-
Geography of Norway

Capital: Oslo
Currency
1 USD equals
11.17
Norwegian
krone
Norway has two
official
languages:
Norwegian and
Sami.
 About the Poet
▶.
 THEME
The poem deals with the theme of the loss
of childhood because of psycho –physical
growth, development of thought and the
influence of the worldly ways.
Disillusioned with the
hypocritical ways of the adult world, the
poet bemoans the loss of his childhood
because it also resulted in the loss of
innocence. However , one positive
outcome of this loss is that the poet has
discovered his ability to think new
thoughts independently and the
 EXPLANATION
Stanza - 1
When did my childhood go?
Was it the day I ceased to be eleven,
Was it the time I realized that Hell and Heaven,
Could not be found in Geography,
And therefore could not be,
Was that the day!
▶ ANALYSIS--
• Nostalgic feelings
• Process of maturity
• Difference between fact and fantasy
• The word 'Hell' is derived from an
Anglo-Saxon word hellia (derived from the Old
English, that is used in the King James version of the
Bible as the final destination of the wicked or bad
doers.
KING JAMES VERSION OF HOLY BIBLE
Analysis:
• Use of Interrogatives

• Use of Simple Language

• use of ‘Refrain’

•Exhibits growth of
rationalism as a process of
development
Reference of Hell in Paradise Lost by John Milton

At once as far as Angels kenn he views

The dismal Situation waste and wilde, [ 60 ]
A Dungeon horrible, on all sides round
As one great Furnace flam'd, yet from those flames
No light, but rather darkness visible
Serv'd onely to discover sights of woe,
Regions of sorrow, doleful shades, where peace [ 65 ]
And rest can never dwell, hope never comes
That comes to all; but torture without end
Stanza – 1
When did my childhood go?
Was it the day I ceased to be eleven,
Was it the time I realized that Hell and Heaven,
Could not be found in Geography,
And therefore could not be,
Was that the day!
▶ Childhood’ by Markus Natten begins with a question. The poet
is not sure when he became an adult. It was when he was
eleven years old. Then he realized that “Hell and Heaven” had
no real existence in the age in which he was living. These are
just the components of a child’s bedtime story. He stresses
the word
“Geography” by capitalizing it. It is a reference to the fact that at
that time the poet started to familiarise himself with the
rational world.
▶ The poet uses the line, “And therefore could not be” for
emphasizing that he could not freely roam in his imaginary world
like before. There should not be any room for such childlike
dreaming now. Time has changed. He is not a child anymore.
The use of refrain in the last line highlights the poet’s
transition into adulthood.
 Analysis:

•entrance of a child into the adult world

• hypocrisy in society

Stanza – 2
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!
•development of skepticism
•The word preach comes from the Latin
prae, "before," and dicare, "declare." When
you preach, you're not just talking — you're
declaring something with conviction
•Adults – do they
practise what they
preach?
•In search of genuine
love
Stanza – 2
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!
▶ In the second stanza, the poet foregrounds the attitude of mature ones
towards a child who has just become an adult. He had suddenly a
realization that the adults around him were not behaving as they did
before.
▶ The child finds the adults to be double faced .He observes a wide gap
between what they preach and what they practice. Hypocrisy has taken
the place of innocence in their life.
▶ The child is heading towards worldly maturity . The gullibility which
made him accept things at their face value is giving way to a keen and
crisp perception
▶ A lot of things start to enter into their lives and puzzle them daily.
What they need is only love, to welcome the mental transformation
with a patient heart.
Stanza – 2
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!

▶ In the second stanza, the poet foregrounds the attitude of mature ones
towards a child who has just become an adult. He had suddenly a
realization that the adults around him were not behaving as they did
before. When he was a little child, they pampered him. He got all the
things when he wanted. The most important thing here is love. The
poet says that with time their love had also changed. They thought it
was inappropriate to treat him as a child. But they could not
understand, the poet had just stepped into maturity. It was a long way
to be like his parents. It was just the beginning. He still needed their
assistance and foremost their love.
▶ Adults cannot understand the mental happenings of a kid. They are not
machines. There is no switch in a human heart which can turn on the
mode of adulthood in a child. It is a process and processing of a human
mind needs time. For them, it is a critical time. A lot of things start to
enter into their lives and puzzle them daily. What they need is only love,
to welcome the mental transformation with a patient heart.
 Stanza –
3
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 my
alone, Was that the day!
STANZA -3

Analysis:
• Development of
Individuality

•Believe in
Nonconformit
y

• Finding the
self-
worth
Stanza -3
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 my alone,
Was that the day!
▶ In this section too, the poet asks the same question to
himself.
The refrain used at the beginning of each stanza refers to an
important idea. The state of childhood was an important thing in
his life. As an adult, he laments the loss of innocence,
imaginative spirit, and spontaneity of thought, when a child
enters into
manhood. Whatsoever, here in this stanza, there is a concept of
self-awareness. It grows up in the mind of a child after
stepping into adolescence. According to the poet, it made him
aware of his own body and thoughts. The poet could not think
like a child. He started to become self-centred. Thereafter, he
lost the touch of purity which is there in infant’s soul.
Stanza -3
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 my alone,
Was that the day!
▶ In the process of growing up the child discovers his individuality and
finds himself to be unique. He comes to trust his ability to reason
and think.
▶ As the child grows, he develops a bit of defiance and he becomes
assertive. Apart from it he becomes aware of his distinctive character.
▶ Shaking off the yoke of restrictions imposed on him by the adults the
child gets a sense of relief at being able to use his mind according to his
choice.
▶ His capacity to have individual thoughts enhances his confidence
and gives him a sense of pride.
▶ “When did my childhood go” being the central theme of the poem
has been used as a refrain by the poet . Hence it occurs in the first
three stanzas of poem.
Stanza –
4
Where did my childhood go?
It went to some forgotten
place,
That’s hidden in an infant’s
face,
That’s all I know
 STANZA -4

•
Analysis
:
•Answering the rhetoric
question

•Innocence
NostalgicisEnding
forgotten by the
• adult world

• Obsession with childhood virtues

Stanza –
4
Where did my childhood go?
It went to some forgotten place,
That’s hidden in an infant’s
face, That’s all I know

▶ In this stanza, the poet becomes practical. He accepts

that he is an adult now. He can no longer think like a
child and cry over the spilled milk. What is gone, is
gone. Now he asks himself where the childhood had
gone. It might have gone to a place where he cannot
visit anymore. Suddenly, the truth appears in his mind.
In reality, he is an adult but the essence of childhood
is always there. In the heart of a child and the happy
face of an infant, purity is glittering in its full luster.
There is no reason to be sad. Those innocent faces
brimming with the hope of a new day, are always there
to cheer him up. “That’s all” he knows.
Stanza –
4
Where did my childhood go?
It went to some forgotten place,
That’s hidden in an infant’s
face, That’s all I know
▶ The speaker regret the loss of childhood which was a
period of innocence where make believe world
was considered to be a reality.
▶ The poet doesn’t know where and when he lost his
childhood but it was definitely within him once upon
a time
▶ He doesn’t know where he mislaid it .Even the
recollection of it has faded away with passage of
time.
▶ Though the childhood is nowhere to be seen .it has not
disappeared totally as it can be seen ,it has not
disappeared totally as it can be seen in an infant’s
face.
 COMPARISON

▶ CHILDHOOD ADULTHOOD
▶Innocence Hypocrisy
▶Restrictive
Individuality
Rationalism
▶Loving
Independent
▶Dependant
ANALYSIS-“tone” is the writer's attitude, “mood” is
the feeling the reader gets from the writing
MOOD-
TONE-
nostalgia,
Melancholic wistfulness,
sad reflection,
sentimentality
yearning
 POETIC DEVICES
Alliteration Metaphor -
Antithesis
Inversion – when the
Simile-
subject-verb order is Rhyme Scheme – is
reversed ABBCCD.
To use whichever way I
choose
Refrain – phrase which is
repeated in the poem
When did my childhood go?
Was that the day!
 Points to Remember

▶ Poet makes speculations over the loss of his

childhood
▶ First possibility relates to the age when he
completed eleven years
▶ Childhood gave way to adolescence
▶ Has developed power of understanding
▶ When not to be found in any of the text
books
,rationally concludes that hell and heaven are
figments of imagination
▶ Realization of hypocrisy of the adult world
 Points to Remember

▶ Doubts start creeping in his mind

▶ Comes out of make believe world
of imagination and hearsay
▶ Masters of his own mind –trusts his
ability to reason and think
▶ Sense of individuality dawns on him
▶ Dwells on where his childhood
has disappeared
▶ Childhood in some forgotten
place
AUDIO TRACK AND VIDEO FILE
 COMPETENCY-READING, EXPLORE THE THEME
Once upon a time, son,
they used to laugh with their hearts
and laugh with their eyes:
but now they only laugh with their teeth,
while their ice-block-cold eyes
search behind my shadow.
There was a time indeed
they used to shake hands with their hearts:
but that’s gone, son.
Now they shake hands without hearts
while their left hands search
my empty pockets.
‘Feel at home!’ ‘Come again’:
they say, and when I come
again and feel
at home, once, twice,
there will be no thrice-
for then I find doors shut on me.
COMPETENCY-LISTENING SKILLS, PATIENCE ,PRONUNCIATION
 Once Upon a Time
This is a poem by the Nigerian poet Gabriel Okara, in which he laments the lost innocence of youth. In it
he condemns the hypocrisy of adults – hemmed in and constrained by rules and conventions – adopting
masks for different occasions: for lying, cheating and betraying – whereas childhood is portrayed as a
time of honest laughter, and spontaneity.
COMPETENCY -READING SKILLS-Literary passage
Ereka had no idea what she’d do now that she’d come out of the TV
room, so she started opening the drawers of the old study table her
grandfather had recently given her. Slipping her hand into the first
drawer, she pulled out something. It seemed to be a very old book — it
was a diary. Excited now, she turned it over. It was her
grandfather’s diary! She flipped through the pages. It was written in a
very neat hand, with each page dated meticulously. Curious to know
more about her grandfather as a young man, she opened a page. It was
dated February 12, 1945. She calculated his age — he was probably 18
then.
EXPLORE THE THEME
 COMPETENCY-BUILDING UP VOCABULARY
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17

A I N D I V I D U A L I S M D H O

L R A T I O N A L I S M A P Z G I

P L S K U D F R H Y P O C R I S Y

S F K N H E A V E N C V B E N M Q

D S F U M J N S L O V E T A G K N

A B B C C D W E L V E T S C X N J

W D G U D T H X H M S D Y H D G U

E U R O P E A N D A S I A N E X T
 WRITING PROMPT -COMPETENCY-WRITING SKILL=
COMPOSE A POEM-CINQUAIN POEM
Line 1: The subject of the poem. One word.
Line 2: Two adjectives to describe the subject. Two words.
Line 3: Action words that describe the subject. Emphasis on verbs and gerunds.
Three words.
Line 4: Words that describe the subject, often invoking mood, tone, and emotion.
Four words.
Line 5: A synonym or clear reference to the subject. One word.
my cat, whose name is Jameson:
Jameson—
fluffy; destructive.
Screams, scratches, bites
but still loving, caring magnificent.
Ouch!
PROJECT WORK-COMPOSE A POEM USING THE PROMPT

You know that dream where you’ve gone back

in time and you’re reliving the craziest
moment of your entire
life? — I’m living it.
 DIAGONSTIC QUESTIONS-
▶ Answer the following questions in 30-40 words to
each:-
▶ How does the poem expose the adults and presents
them in true colours ?
▶ Childhood stands for innocence ,purity and love
▶ Qualities start receding as the child grows
▶ Adults- turns cunning , shrewd and hypocrites
▶ Blatant liar
Q 2-How does the poet repent on the loss of his
childhood?
Q 3- What does the hell and heaven stand
for ?
Q 4 – Explain, “producing thoughts that were
not those of
 ASSIGNMENT
Q 1 Read the following stanzas 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 realized that Hell and Heaven,
Could not be found in geography,
And therefore could not
be, Was that the day!
a)What different possibilities make the poet believe that his childhood is
over?
b) How has the rational approach transformed his thinking?
c)What logical conclusion he made about Hell and Heaven ?
2- When did my childhood go?
Was it the time I realized 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
a) What new revelation has dawned on
the poet?
b) What is the tone of the poet in the
given lines?
c) Heading towards maturity what contradictions in adult behaviour are observed by
the poet?
3 Where did my childhood go?
It went to some forgotten place ,
That’s hidden in an infant’s
face, That’s all I know.
a) What is the mental state of the
poet in the stanza given
above?
b) What figurative meaning has
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