[CHILDHOOD THE

VERSES ON LOST
EMOTION OF
INNOCENTS]
[ENGLISH PROJECT]

[BY : RITHVIK,SOURAV,HARIKRISHNAN,SHARAVANAN,JAI,SIDHARTH,GAURAV,HARINATH,ABHINAV]
[TO : MRS VANI B NAIR, departmental of ENGLISH]
GLIMPSES OF THE CONTENT

The poet reflects on his childhood and how he

lost the blissful innocence that came with it. He
wonders if it was the day he stopped being
eleven, or the day he realized that hell and
heaven didn't exist, or the day he became
aware of the hypocrisy of adults. He comes to
the realization that his childhood has gone to
some forgotten place, but can still be found in
the face of an infant..
OBJECTIVE
1. “Childhood” by Markus Natten is a poem that explores the concept of
the loss of innocence.

2. The poem begins by questioning when and where the poet lost his
childhood.

3. It highlights the confusion and turmoil experienced by a child

transitioning into adulthood.

4. The poet realizes that he has lost his childhood to some forgotten
place and his childhood is now a memory.

5. The poem conveys a deep sense of sadness and regret as the poet
reflects on the innocence of childhood.

6. The poem effectively captures the bittersweet feeling of growing up

and the loss of innocence.
DATA COLLECTION

Childhood has been considered by the poet as a blissful period One’s

life, where a child trust everyone. The story also shows how the
innocents of childhood gets lost as when grows older and became
aware of realities of life.
In the poem the poet wonders when he lost his childhood and the
innocents he had. He became conscious that he no longer sees the
world as he did earlier and he can sence the hypocrisy in people. He
recalled many instances in his life when he could have lost his
childhood. He wonders if it was the he ceased to be eleven or he
realized that hell and heaven did not exists in this world and no one
could find them in geography. Next he talks about the possibility when
he realized that adults were not what we see and they are hypocrites.
They talks and preach of love but their actions do not show so. Or 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 particular personality. In the last stance he talks about
where his childhood has gone. He concludes that it had gone to some
forgotten place and it can only be found in the innocent face of an
infant.

 In the first stanza the poet talks about rationalism.

 In the second stanza the poet talks about hypocrisy.
 In the third stanza the poet talks about individuality.
 1. RATIONALISM

MEANING: The practice or principle of basing

opinions and actions on reason and knowledge
rather than one’s religious belief or emotional
response.

2. HYPOCRISY

MEANING: The practice of clamming to have higher

standards or more noble belief in the case.

3. INDIVIDUALITY

MEANING: The quality of being independent in

thoughts and action .
Analysis of Childhood
Theme: The poem, “Childhood” focuses on the theme of the loss of
innocence. Markus Natten, the poet wonders when and where he lost
his childhood. He ponders over this question and highlights the loss of
innocence and faith in the quest of growing up. Adolescence or
childhood is a puzzling time when a child is unable to settle with the
physical, psychological and other changes in his personality. He
becomes a ‘young adult’ he neither wants to call himself a child nor is
he completely an adult. He finally finds his answers that he lost his
childhood to some forgotten place and that his childhood has become
a memory.

Stanza One
The chapter starts with a question,” When did he lose his childhood…
The day he lost his innocence”.He keeps thinking if it was the day he
became 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.

Stanza Two
He realized that the adults around him were not behaving as they did
when he was a small child. When he was a child, they pampered him.
In the second stanza, the poet wants to highlight the attitude of mature
ones towards a child who has just become an adult. 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 being like his parents.

Stanza Three
In this section too, the poet asks the same question to himself. As an
adult, he now laments the loss of his innocence, imaginative spirit and
spontaneity of thought, the way he could do whatever he want and no
one would bat an eye.
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 always there in an infant’s soul.
Stanza Four

In this stanza, the poet comes back to reality and accepts that he is an
adult no. He can no longer think like a child and cry over his past. He
suddenly realises the truth that his childhood might be buried deep
inside 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 lustre.
CONCLUSION

In conclusion, the poem explores how a

child loses innocence as they transition into
adulthood. The poet reflects on their loss of
imaginative spirit and spontaneity of
thought, and how they become aware of
their own body and thoughts. This can be a
difficult and daunting transition, with
feelings of nostalgia for the carefree days of
childhood. Ultimately, the poet
acknowledges that although a person is
now an adult, the essence of childhood
remains in the heart and the happy face of
an infant. Despite the changes that come
with growing up, the poet reminds us of the
beauty and innocence of childhood that can
bring joy and comfort.
 Bibliography

 HORNBILL(textbook)
 https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/48652/childhood
 https://www.shmoop.com/poem-childhood/summary.html
 https://www.bartleby.com/poem/childhood-by-robert-frost/
 https://www.poemhunter.com/poem/childhood-3/
THANK YOU!