Childhood by Markus Natten

 Childhood by Markus Natten

Short Answer-type Questions (About 30-40 words each)

Q1. What answer /answers did the poet provide to the question put in the first stanza:  “When did his childhood go?”

Ans. The answered himself by asking if it was the day when he completed the eleventh year of his age. It was the time when he had started realising the difference between ‘Hell and Heaven’. He came to know that ‘Hell and Heaven’ did not exist (present) anywhere. Those were only the states of mind.

Q2. What answer /answers did the poet provide to the question put in the second stanza: “When did my childhood go?”

Ans. The poet answered himself by asking if it was the time when he realised that adults were not
what they all seemed to be. They appeared that they were not from the inside. They talked and preached about love. But they did not follow what they preached. They were hypocrites.

Q3. What answer /answers did the poet provide to the question put in the third stanza:  “When did his childhood go?”

Ans. He answered himself by asking if it was the time when he found his mind was really his and he started using his own thoughts to decide the problems. At that time he had stopped depending on others for solving his own problems.

Q4. What answer /answers did the poet provide to the question put in the fourth stanza:  “Where did my childhood go?”

Ans. The poet answers himself by saying that it went to some forgotten place. The line “That’s hidden in an infant’s face” shows that the poet has searched for his childhood everywhere. At last, he found its reflection on an infant’s face. It means that the poet has been able to reach the realization that childhood lives in the innocence reflected in the infant’s face.

Q5. What truth does the poet seem to realize at the end of the poem?

Ans. The poet seems to realize the truth that the state of innocence must give way to the state of experience. The knowledge of worldly wisdom is desirable for the human mind. Otherwise, it would be difficult for human beings to live peacefully.

Q6. What does the poet say about the adults?

Ans. He tells us about the hypocrisy shown by the adults. He lost faith in the adults because they did not act on what they preached. They always preached to him to love others, while they themselves did not love others. They showed to others as if they were very close and loving to them. But in reality, they criticised and disliked them at their back. They showed them only mouth honour.

Q7. When did the poet’s mind start to rationalize the thoughts and how?

Ans. In the third stanza, the poet talks about his adulthood although he does not mention it. He has gained the wisdom of life. His faculty of the mind to rationalize the things has developed. Now he can differentiate between good and evil; right and wrong. He can make his own decisions and form opinions about others. He would no more depend on others’ opinions which are usually full of prejudice and jealousy.

Q8. What does the poet conclude at the end of the poem?

Ans. Thus the poem ends with the poet’s conclusion that his childhood has been transferred to another child. If a person wants to see his own childhood, he or she can watch a child’s face and feel glad to see the lost childhood reflected in it.

(B) Some Important Stanzas for Comprehension

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!

Q1. Name the poem and its poet.

Ans. The poem is “Childhood’ and its poet is Markus Natten

Q2.When did the poet’s childhood come to an end according to the poet in the above stanza?

Ans. It came to an end when the poet completed the eleventh year of his age.

Q3. What knowledge did the poet gain about ‘Hell and Heaven’?

Ans. He gained the knowledge that Hell and Heaven cannot be found in geography because these are the states of the human mind.

Q4. Give the meaning of ‘ceased’.

Ans. Stopped

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!

Q1. What did the adults talk about and preach to the poet?

Ans. The adults talked of love and preached of love.

Q2. What knowledge did the poet gain about the adults?

Ans. He came to know that the adults did not do what they talked about and preached.

Q3. What did the behavior of the adults show to the poet?

Ans. It showed their hypocrisy.

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!

Q1. What does the poet mean by “my mind was really mine”?

Ans. It means that the poet has become able to depend on his own thoughts.

Q2. What has the poet stopped doing now?

Ans. The poet has stopped depending on others for taking opinions.

Q3. How does the poet use his own thoughts now?

Ans. He uses his thoughts in his own way now. He solves his problems himself now.

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.
Q1. Where did the poet’s childhood go according to the poet in the above stanza?

Ans. It went to some forgotten place.

Q2. Where did the poet find his childhood?

Ans. He found it in the infant’s face.

Q3. How does the poet feel after losing his childhood?

Ans. He feels sad after losing his childhood.

Q4. Which poetic device has been used in this poem?

Ans. It is ‘refrain’.