Evergreen Public School

Class XI, Subject English

General instructions:
1) Read the poem and the synopsis
2) Separate instructions have been given after each set of questions, follow them before
attempting

CHILDHOOD
-Markus Natten
In the poem ‘Childhood’, Markus Natten depicts the reality of childhood innocence
gradually transforming into adult rationality, hypocrisy and individuality. It is a process
of growing up. One cannot exactly identify when one phase of life is replaced by another,

The poem begins with the poet wondering when he lost his childhood –he asks if it was the
day he turned more than eleven; or when he could distinguish between fantasy and reality
by realizing that heaven and hell are not real geographical places. He gained rationality or
ability to think logically & understood these don’t exist since these cannot be located in a
map; we simply believe in the idea of heaven & hell.

The poet further wonders if he lost his childhood the day he learnt the truth about adults
by observing their behaviour. He could understand the pretence and hypocrisy of adults
by realizing that people were not all that they pretended to be; they may preach of love,
charity & other values but they may not always practice what they preach. As he grew up he
was able to distinguish between the words and the actions of the adults.

He also thinks if it was the day when he became conscious of his own growing individuality
and identity. He realised that he had a mind of his own, he was capable of thinking
independently and having opinions that were different from other people. He became aware
that he could make his own choices & take his own decisions in life.

In the final lines, the poet concludes the speculations in his mind regarding his lost childhood.
He now tries to understand where his childhood has gone. Though he is not aware of the day
he lost his childhood, he knows that it has gone to some forgotten place, that is, on the face of
an infant. The poet believes that though his childhood has become a memory for him, it has
become a reality for some other child. Childhood is a cyclic process, where it leaves one
person and goes to another.
Poetic devices:

1)Refrain: A sentence /phrase is repeated in a poem

Eg: ‘ When did my childhood go?

2)Alliteration: repetition of consonant sounds in a line

Eg:
stanza 1: ‘ Hell and heaven…..

stanza 2: the time….

That the

Stanza 3: my mind
Whichever way

Stanza 4: in an infant’s

A) Complete all the textual questions

B) Write the answers of the following questions in about 30-40 words:

1) How did the adults seem to the poet when he was a child?
2) What is the poet trying to convey by saying that childhood is found in an infant’s face?
3) How was the poet’s discovery of his independent thinking significant to him?
C) Attempt the following in about 120 words each:

1)Childhood is an essential state in the process of growing up, but it can’t go on forever.” Discuss
with reference to the poem.