Class 11 English Hornbill Poem 3 Question Answer | Childhood

Class 11 English Hornbill Poem 3 Question Answer | Childhood | ASSEB

Class 11 English Hornbill Poem 3 — Childhood by Markus Natten | ASSEB Question Answer

Welcome to HSLC Guru, your trusted companion for ASSEB Class 11 English Hornbill textbook solutions. In this detailed study guide we explore Poem 3 — “Childhood” by Markus Natten, a thought-provoking poem that explores the painful but inevitable transition from the innocence of childhood to the awareness, hypocrisy and rationality of adulthood. The poet asks himself a deeply philosophical question — “When did my childhood go?” — and through a chain of “Was that the day…” reflections, he attempts to locate the precise moment at which innocence slipped away. This page contains the complete About the Poet section, English and Assamese summaries, stanza-wise explanation, poetic devices, textbook “Think it out” questions, vocabulary, additional short and long answer questions, MCQs, extract-based questions, and major themes — all written in clear, exam-oriented language for ASSEB HS First Year (Class 11) students.

About the Poet

Markus Natten is a contemporary poet whose poems often deal with themes of childhood, innocence, growing up, and self-awareness. He is best known to Indian school readers through this poem, “Childhood”, which appears in the NCERT/ASSEB Class 11 Hornbill textbook. The poem was reportedly composed when the poet was very young — barely a teenager — which makes its mature philosophical insight all the more remarkable. Natten writes in a simple, conversational free-verse style and uses repeated rhetorical questions to lead the reader, along with himself, in an honest search for the moment childhood ended. His ability to capture the bewilderment of a young mind discovering adult hypocrisy gives the poem its lasting emotional appeal.

Summary (English)

The poem “Childhood” by Markus Natten is a heartfelt enquiry into the moment at which the speaker’s childhood disappeared. The poet repeatedly asks himself, “When did my childhood go?” and then offers three possible answers, each beginning with the line “Was that the day…”. First he wonders whether childhood ended when he turned eleven and began to understand that there is no real Hell or Heaven as taught in religious geography books — that is, when blind faith gave way to rational thought. Second, he wonders if childhood ended when he saw that grown-ups were not always what they appeared to be: they preached love but did not act lovingly, they preached truth but practised hypocrisy. Third, he wonders if childhood ended when he discovered his individuality, when he realised that his mind was truly his own and that he could think with thoughts that were uniquely his, and not merely the borrowed ideas of his elders. After exploring these three possibilities, the poet concludes that childhood has gone “to some forgotten place / That’s hidden in an infant’s face.” In other words, true innocence and unconditional trust have not vanished from the world — they continue to live on in the smile of every newborn child. The poem thus traces the painful but universal journey from innocence to experience, and it ends on a tender, hopeful note: childhood is not dead, only relocated.

সাৰাংশ (Assamese)

মাৰ্কাছ নেটেনৰ “Childhood” কবিতাটোত কবিয়ে নিজকে বাৰে বাৰে এটা প্ৰশ্ন সুধিছে — “মোৰ শৈশৱ ক’লৈ গ’ল?” এই প্ৰশ্নৰ উত্তৰ বিচাৰি কবিয়ে তিনিটা সম্ভাৱ্য মুহূৰ্তৰ কথা চিন্তা কৰিছে, প্ৰতিটো স্তবকেই “Was that the day…” বুলি আৰম্ভ হৈছে। প্ৰথমতে তেওঁ ভাবিছে — সম্ভৱতঃ এঘাৰ বছৰ বয়সত যেতিয়া তেওঁ বুজি পালে যে ভূগোল-পুথিত উল্লেখ থকা স্বৰ্গ-নৰক প্ৰকৃততে নাই, যেতিয়া অন্ধবিশ্বাসৰ ঠাইত যুক্তি আৰু বিচাৰ-বুদ্ধিয়ে স্থান ল’লে, সেইদিনাই তেওঁৰ শৈশৱ গ’ল। দ্বিতীয়তে তেওঁ ভাবিছে — সম্ভৱতঃ সেই দিনাই গ’ল যেতিয়া তেওঁ লক্ষ্য কৰিলে যে ডাঙৰ মানুহবোৰে দেখুৱা ৰূপ আৰু প্ৰকৃত কৰ্মৰ মাজত পাৰ্থক্য আছে; সিহঁতে প্ৰেমৰ কথা কয় কিন্তু প্ৰেমেৰে নচলে, সত্যৰ কথা কয় কিন্তু নিজে কপটতাৰ আশ্ৰয় লয়। তৃতীয়তে কবিয়ে ভাবিছে — সম্ভৱতঃ সেই দিনাই তেওঁৰ শৈশৱ গ’ল যেতিয়া তেওঁ আৱিষ্কাৰ কৰিলে যে তেওঁৰ মন তেওঁৰেই, তেওঁৰ চিন্তা একান্ত নিজস্ব, আনৰ পৰা ধাৰলৈ লোৱা নহয়। অৱশেষত কবিয়ে এটা মৰমলগা সিদ্ধান্তত উপনীত হৈছে — তেওঁৰ শৈশৱ মৰি যোৱা নাই, ই গৈছে এটা “ভুলি যোৱা ঠাই”লৈ, যিটো এটা শিশুৰ মুখখনত লুকাই আছে। অৰ্থাৎ পৃথিৱীত শৈশৱৰ পৱিত্ৰতা আৰু সৰলতা এতিয়াও আছে — প্ৰতিগৰাকী নৱজাত শিশুৰ হাঁহিৰ মাজত সেয়া জীয়াই আছে। কবিতাটোয়ে শৈশৱৰ সৰলতাৰ পৰা যৌৱনৰ অভিজ্ঞতালৈ মানৱ-জীৱনৰ অনিবাৰ্য পৰিৱৰ্তনক অতি সুন্দৰভাৱে চিত্ৰিত কৰিছে।

Stanza-wise Explanation

Stanza 1

“When did my childhood go?
Was it the day I ceased to be eleven,
Was it the time I realised that Hell and Heaven,
Could not be found in Geography,
And therefore could not be,
Was that the day!”

Explanation: The poet opens with the central question of the poem — “When did my childhood go?” In this first stanza he examines a possible answer: that childhood ended when he stopped being eleven, that is, around the age of twelve. He recalls the moment he realised that Hell and Heaven, which adults had described as real places, could not be located on any geographical map. If they could not be marked on a map, then logically they could not exist as physical places at all. The growth of rational, scientific thinking displaced the simple religious belief he had held as a small child. The poet wonders whether that day of disillusionment with religious geography was the day his childhood actually slipped away. The exclamation “Was that the day!” marks the dawn of doubt and reasoning — the first crack in childhood faith.

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!”

Explanation: The poet now considers a second possibility. He wonders whether his childhood ended on the day he saw through the hypocrisy of adults. As a small child he had trusted grown-ups completely and believed every word they spoke. But as he grew older he noticed a sharp gap between what adults said and what they actually did. They talked endlessly about love, they delivered sermons on the importance of love, but in their conduct they were not loving at all. Their actions did not match their words. This first encounter with adult hypocrisy was a deeply unsettling experience for the young speaker. It shattered his innocent trust and pushed him out of the protected world of childhood. The poet wonders whether that painful realisation was the day childhood truly ended.

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 mine alone
Was that the day!”

Explanation: In this third stanza the poet explores yet another possibility. He wonders whether his childhood ended on the day he discovered his own individuality — the day he realised that his mind was truly his own, that he was free to use it in whatever way he chose, and that the thoughts he produced were not borrowed from his parents, teachers or elders but were genuinely his own. This discovery of independent thinking is a defining moment of growing up. As children we accept whatever we are told; as we mature, we begin to reason for ourselves and form opinions of our own. The dawn of intellectual independence and self-awareness is, the poet suggests, perhaps the precise day childhood ended.

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.”

Explanation: Unable to pinpoint exactly when his childhood went, the poet now changes the question slightly — instead of “when?” he asks “where?” He arrives at a tender, almost mystical conclusion: his childhood has gone to “some forgotten place / That’s hidden in an infant’s face.” The smile of every newborn baby holds within it the same innocence, trust and wonder that the poet himself once possessed. Childhood, he realises, is never really lost from the world — it is only handed on. As one person grows into adulthood, another infant is born to inherit that pure innocence. The poet ends humbly with “That’s all I know,” admitting that this is the only certain answer he can give. The closing tone is wistful, gentle and finally hopeful.

Poetic Devices

Device	Example from the poem	Effect
Rhetorical Question	“When did my childhood go?”	Engages the reader directly and drives the poem’s enquiry.
Repetition / Anaphora	“Was that the day!” / “When did my childhood go?”	Reinforces the speaker’s persistent search and emotional intensity.
Enjambment	“Was it the time I realised that adults were not / all they seemed to be”	Lines flow without end-stop, mimicking natural thought and reflection.
Metaphor	“It went to some forgotten place”	Childhood is treated as if it were a place — something one can travel away from.
Symbolism	“infant’s face”	The infant symbolises innocence, purity and unspoiled wonder.
Free Verse	The poem has no fixed rhyme scheme or metre.	Suits the conversational, reflective mood of the speaker.
Rhyme (occasional)	“Heaven / be” (slant) ; “place / face” (full)	Adds gentle musicality without strict regularity.
Alliteration	“preached of love…lovingly”	Creates a musical echo and stresses the contrast between word and deed.
Antithesis	“talked of love…did not act so lovingly”	Sharpens the contrast between adult speech and adult behaviour.
Imagery	“hidden in an infant’s face”	Visual image evoking purity, hope and continuity of innocence.
Tone	Reflective, questioning, slightly sad, finally hopeful.	Mirrors the universal experience of growing up.

Understanding the Poem (Textbook “Think it out” Questions)

1. Identify the stanza that talks of each of the following:
(a) Individuality
(b) Rationalism
(c) Hypocrisy

Answer: (a) Individuality — the third stanza, in which the poet realises that his mind is “really mine, / To use whichever way I choose,” producing thoughts that are his own and his alone. (b) Rationalism — the first stanza, in which the poet rejects the idea of Hell and Heaven because they cannot be found on any geographical map. (c) Hypocrisy — the second stanza, in which the poet observes that adults talked and preached of love but did not act lovingly.

2. What according to the poem is involved in the process of growing up?

Answer: According to the poem, the process of growing up involves three major changes. First, it involves the development of rational thinking — the child stops accepting fantastic ideas like Hell and Heaven simply because adults said they exist and instead demands evidence and logic. Second, it involves losing one’s innocent trust in adults; the growing child notices that grown-ups often say one thing and do another, and that their words about love and morality do not always match their actions. Third, it involves the discovery of individuality — the awareness that one’s mind is one’s own, capable of producing original thoughts that are not merely echoes of other people’s opinions. Together, these three steps mark the painful but inevitable journey from the simple faith of childhood to the awareness, scepticism and self-reliance of adulthood.

3. What is the poet’s feeling towards childhood?

Answer: The poet looks back on his childhood with a deep mixture of nostalgia, regret and tenderness. He clearly values childhood as a special time of innocence, trust and unspoiled imagination — a time when the world seemed simple and adults seemed entirely trustworthy. He regrets that this beautiful phase of life had to end and is genuinely saddened by its disappearance. At the same time, he is comforted by the discovery that childhood has not vanished altogether from the world; it lives on in the face of every infant. His feeling towards childhood is therefore one of loving remembrance — he mourns its passing in himself but rejoices that it is reborn in every new child.

4. Which do you think are the most poetic lines? Why?

Answer: The most poetic lines in the poem are the closing lines — “It went to some forgotten place, / That’s hidden in an infant’s face, / That’s all I know.” These lines are the most poetic for several reasons. They contain a striking metaphor that turns childhood into a “forgotten place”, suggesting that something abstract and emotional can have a location of its own. They use a tender visual image — the smiling face of an infant — to represent purity, hope and the continuity of innocence across generations. The musical rhyme of “place” and “face” gives the lines a soft, lullaby-like rhythm, while the simple admission “That’s all I know” lends them a quiet, honest humility. After all the doubt and questioning of the earlier stanzas, these final lines offer a gentle resolution that is both moving and beautifully expressed.

Working with Words

Word	Meaning	Use in the poem
Childhood	The early period of one’s life; the state of being a child.	The central subject of the poem — the speaker mourns its loss.
Ceased	Stopped; came to an end.	“the day I ceased to be eleven” — the moment growing up began.
Hell	A place of punishment after death (in religion).	Used as an example of an idea the poet stopped believing in.
Heaven	A place of reward after death (in religion).	Used along with Hell to mark the dawn of rational thinking.
Geography	The study of the physical features of the earth.	The poet realises that Hell and Heaven cannot appear on any map.
Realised	Came to understand fully.	Marks the moments of awakening in stanzas 1, 2 and 3.
Adults	Grown-up people.	Their hypocrisy is the subject of the second stanza.
Preached	Delivered moral instruction or sermons.	Adults preached of love but did not act lovingly.
Lovingly	In a loving manner.	Highlights the gap between adult speech and adult action.
Mind	The seat of thought and reasoning.	The poet realises his mind is truly his own.
Thoughts	Ideas produced by the mind.	The poet discovers that his thoughts are his alone.
Forgotten	No longer remembered.	Childhood goes to a “forgotten place”, suggesting it is out of reach.
Hidden	Concealed; not openly visible.	Childhood is hidden in an infant’s face.
Infant	A very young child or baby.	The infant symbolises innocence and the rebirth of childhood.
Hypocrisy	Pretending to have qualities one does not actually have.	A central theme of stanza two.
Rationalism	Reliance on reason rather than blind faith.	Theme of stanza one — questioning Hell and Heaven.
Individuality	The qualities that make a person unique.	Theme of stanza three — discovering one’s own mind.

Use the following phrases in sentences of your own:

To cease to be — When she became a doctor, she ceased to be the shy little girl I remembered.
Could not be found — The lost wallet could not be found anywhere in the house.
Talked of love — They talked of love at every meeting but rarely showed it in their actions.
Preached of love — The leader preached of love and tolerance throughout his speech.
Did not act lovingly — Despite his sweet words, he did not act lovingly towards his old parents.
To use whichever way I choose — This is my notebook, and I can use it whichever way I choose.
My own, and mine alone — These ideas are my own, and mine alone.
Forgotten place — The old well stood in some forgotten place behind the house.
Hidden in an infant’s face — A whole universe of innocence seemed hidden in that infant’s face.

Additional Short Answer Questions

1. What is the central question of the poem “Childhood”?

Answer: The central question of the poem is “When did my childhood go?” The poet repeats this question at the start of three successive stanzas as he tries to identify the exact moment childhood slipped away from him.

2. Why does the poet mention the age of eleven?

Answer: The poet mentions eleven because he believes his childhood may have ended around the age when he stopped being eleven, that is, when he turned twelve. At this age children typically begin to question what they were earlier told to accept on faith, and the poet associates this transition with the loss of innocence.

3. Why does the poet say that Hell and Heaven cannot be found in Geography?

Answer: Geography deals with real, measurable features of the earth — continents, countries, mountains, rivers and oceans — that can be located on maps. Hell and Heaven, on the other hand, are religious concepts and cannot be plotted on any map. The poet uses this absence to argue that they may not exist as physical places at all.

4. What does the poet realise about adults in the second stanza?

Answer: In the second stanza the poet realises that adults are not what they pretend to be. They speak constantly about love and even preach about it, but in their actual conduct they fail to behave lovingly. He recognises a serious gap between adult words and adult deeds — in short, he discovers adult hypocrisy.

5. What discovery does the poet make in the third stanza?

Answer: In the third stanza the poet discovers his individuality. He realises that his mind belongs entirely to him, that he is free to use it in whatever way he chooses, and that the thoughts he produces are uniquely his own and not borrowed from anyone else.

6. Where, according to the poet, has his childhood gone?

Answer: According to the poet, his childhood has gone to “some forgotten place” that lies hidden in the face of an infant. In other words, the innocence and purity of childhood are not destroyed but are transferred to every newborn child.

7. Why does the poet keep asking “Was that the day!”?

Answer: The poet keeps asking “Was that the day!” because he is unsure exactly when his childhood ended. Each stanza explores a different possibility, and the repeated phrase shows his earnest, almost desperate attempt to identify a single defining moment.

8. What does the “infant’s face” symbolise in the poem?

Answer: The infant’s face symbolises pure, unspoiled innocence. It stands for the trust, simplicity and wonder that the poet associates with childhood. By saying that his childhood is hidden in an infant’s face, the poet suggests that innocence is constantly reborn in every new generation.

9. What kind of poem is “Childhood” — narrative or reflective?

Answer: “Childhood” is a reflective poem. It does not tell a story or describe a series of external events. Instead, the poet looks inward and meditates on his own emotional and intellectual journey from childhood to adulthood.

10. What is the tone of the poem?

Answer: The tone of the poem is reflective, questioning and a little melancholy. There is a sense of regret over the loss of innocence, but the closing lines turn hopeful and tender as the poet realises that childhood is reborn in every infant.

11. What is the rhyme scheme of the poem?

Answer: The poem is largely written in free verse, with no strict rhyme scheme. However, occasional rhymes — such as “Heaven / be” in the first stanza and “place / face” in the last — give the poem a soft, irregular musicality.

12. Why does the poet shift from “When” to “Where” in the last stanza?

Answer: Earlier stanzas tried to fix the precise time at which childhood ended. After failing to find a single answer, the poet shifts the question from “when” to “where”. This change suggests that the loss of childhood cannot be located on a calendar but can be imagined as a journey to some quiet, hidden place — the face of an infant.

13. What does “preached of love” mean?

Answer: “Preached of love” means delivered sermons or moral instruction about love. It is used in the poem to suggest that adults often spoke at length about love as a virtue but did not put it into practice in their own behaviour.

14. Which lines reveal the poet’s discovery of individuality?

Answer: The lines “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 mine alone” reveal the poet’s discovery of individuality.

15. How does the poet finally answer his question about childhood?

Answer: The poet finally answers by saying that he does not know exactly when his childhood went, but he knows where it has gone — “to some forgotten place / That’s hidden in an infant’s face.” Childhood is not destroyed but lives on in every newborn baby.

Long Answer Questions

1. Discuss the central theme of the poem “Childhood”.

Answer: The central theme of “Childhood” is the loss of innocence and the painful transition from childhood to adulthood. The poet describes growing up as a process in which the simple faith and unconditional trust of childhood are gradually replaced by reason, scepticism and self-awareness. He identifies three crucial stages in this transition. First comes rational doubt, when the child realises that ideas like Hell and Heaven, which were earlier accepted on faith, cannot be located in geography and may not exist at all. Second comes disillusionment, when the child notices that adults are hypocritical — they talk endlessly of love but do not act lovingly. Third comes the discovery of individuality, when the young person realises that his mind belongs entirely to him and that he can produce his own original thoughts. Together these three stages mark the end of childhood and the beginning of adult awareness. However, the poem does not end on a note of total loss. The poet realises that childhood, though gone from him, has not vanished from the world; it lives on in the face of every newborn infant. The theme is therefore both philosophical and emotional: it is a reflection on growing up, but also a celebration of the eternal, recurring nature of childhood innocence.

2. How does Markus Natten use repetition and rhetorical questions to convey his feelings in the poem?

Answer: Markus Natten makes very effective use of both repetition and rhetorical questions to convey the deep emotional intensity of his search. The poem is built around the repeated rhetorical question “When did my childhood go?”, which appears at the beginning of three successive stanzas. This repetition creates a strong rhythmic and emotional pulse, mimicking the way the human mind returns again and again to a question it cannot fully answer. Each stanza ends with the equally repeated exclamation “Was that the day!”, in which the poet seems to grasp at one possible answer, only to remain uncertain. By stacking these repetitions one upon the other, the poet conveys both his persistence and his bewilderment. The rhetorical questions also make the reader an active partner in the enquiry — we, too, find ourselves wondering when our own childhoods ended. In the last stanza, the poet shifts the question from “When” to “Where”, and this small change marks the moment at which he gives up trying to fix a date and instead arrives at a tender symbolic answer: childhood has gone to a forgotten place hidden in an infant’s face. The combined use of repetition and rhetorical questions therefore gives the poem its meditative rhythm, its emotional honesty and its memorable closing image.

3. “Childhood” reflects the universal experience of growing up. Discuss.

Answer: The poem “Childhood” reflects the universal experience of growing up because the changes the poet describes are common to almost every human being. Every child, at some point, begins to question the religious or magical ideas accepted on faith in early years. Every adolescent eventually notices that the grown-ups they once trusted are not perfect — that they sometimes preach virtues which they themselves fail to practise. And every young person eventually realises that he or she has a mind of one’s own, capable of producing independent thoughts. These three stages — rational awakening, moral disillusionment and intellectual independence — appear in the lives of children all over the world, regardless of culture or background. By describing his own personal journey through these stages, Markus Natten succeeds in expressing a feeling that all readers can recognise as their own. Furthermore, the poem’s gentle conclusion, that childhood survives in every newborn infant, is also universal — every culture cherishes the innocence of babies and sees in them a continuity of hope. The poem’s themes, its emotional honesty and its tender closing image therefore make it a powerful reflection on a universally shared human experience.

4. Analyse the poet’s attitude towards adults in the poem.

Answer: The poet’s attitude towards adults in the poem is one of disappointment and quiet criticism. As a small child he had unquestioningly trusted adults, accepting their words about Heaven, Hell and other invisible truths as absolute facts. But as he grew older, two painful discoveries changed his view of them. First, he realised that some of the things adults had taught him as truths — for example, the existence of Hell and Heaven as physical places — could not actually be verified in any geographical or scientific way. This made him doubt the reliability of adult instruction. Second, and more importantly, he noticed a serious gap between what adults said and what they did. They preached endlessly about love, yet they did not behave lovingly. They held up moral ideals in their words but failed to live by those ideals in their conduct. The poet is clearly hurt by this hypocrisy. He does not, however, attack adults with anger or bitterness; instead, he simply records his observation in calm, almost resigned language. His tone is more sad than furious — the tone of someone who once believed in adults completely and now feels gently disillusioned. This honest portrayal of adult hypocrisy is one of the most striking aspects of the poem and one of the reasons many readers find it deeply moving.

5. How does the closing stanza of the poem provide a sense of consolation?

Answer: The closing stanza of the poem provides a strong sense of consolation by transforming the poet’s painful sense of loss into a gentle, hopeful image. In the first three stanzas the poet repeatedly asks “When did my childhood go?” and seems to mourn its disappearance, suggesting that something precious has been lost forever. The closing stanza, however, changes the question from “When” to “Where” and arrives at a tender answer: childhood has gone “to some forgotten place / That’s hidden in an infant’s face.” This image of an infant’s face reminds the reader that innocence, purity and wonder are not unique to one person’s life — they are reborn in every newborn child. Thus the loss the poet has experienced is, in a sense, only personal, not universal. Childhood as a quality continues to exist in the world, fresh and untouched, in every new baby that is born. The closing line “That’s all I know” further softens the mood with its quiet humility. The poet does not claim to have all the answers, but the answer he does have — that childhood survives in every new generation — is comforting and beautiful. In this way the closing stanza turns the poem from a lament into a meditation on continuity and hope.

6. How does the poem combine simplicity of language with depth of thought?

Answer: One of the most remarkable qualities of “Childhood” is the way it combines very simple, everyday language with very deep philosophical thought. The vocabulary of the poem is plain — words like “day”, “time”, “mind”, “love”, “place” and “face” are familiar to any school student. The sentence structures are short and direct, and there are no obscure literary references or decorative ornaments. Yet through this very simple language the poet raises profound questions about identity, faith, hypocrisy and the nature of innocence. He explores the disappearance of religious certainty, the discovery of adult hypocrisy and the awakening of individual thought — all of which are subjects worthy of serious philosophical study. By using ordinary words to deal with extraordinary themes, Markus Natten makes his poem accessible to all readers while still delivering its full emotional and intellectual weight. This rare combination of plain speech and deep thought is one reason the poem is so popular in school anthologies and remains memorable to readers long after they have read it.

Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs)

1. Who is the poet of “Childhood”?
(a) Walt Whitman (b) Markus Natten (c) Robert Frost (d) Kamala Das
Answer: (b) Markus Natten

2. The poem “Childhood” is taken from which textbook?
(a) Snapshots (b) Vistas (c) Hornbill (d) Flamingo
Answer: (c) Hornbill

3. The central question of the poem is —
(a) Where did my childhood go? (b) When did my childhood go? (c) Why did my childhood go? (d) How did my childhood go?
Answer: (b) When did my childhood go?

4. At what age does the poet feel his childhood may have ended?
(a) Ten (b) Eleven (c) Twelve (d) Thirteen
Answer: (b) Eleven (he says “the day I ceased to be eleven”)

5. According to the poet, Hell and Heaven could not be found in —
(a) History (b) Geography (c) Science (d) Religion
Answer: (b) Geography

6. The realisation that Hell and Heaven could not be found in Geography indicates the dawn of —
(a) Hypocrisy (b) Rationalism (c) Romance (d) Devotion
Answer: (b) Rationalism

7. What did the poet realise about adults in the second stanza?
(a) They were always honest. (b) They were not what they seemed to be. (c) They never spoke of love. (d) They were always loving.
Answer: (b) They were not what they seemed to be.

8. What did adults preach but not practise?
(a) Honesty (b) Wealth (c) Love (d) Knowledge
Answer: (c) Love

9. The hypocrisy of adults is described in which stanza?
(a) First (b) Second (c) Third (d) Fourth
Answer: (b) Second

10. In the third stanza, the poet realises that —
(a) His mind belongs to others. (b) His mind is really his own. (c) He cannot think for himself. (d) Adults are honest.
Answer: (b) His mind is really his own.

11. The third stanza of the poem deals with —
(a) Hypocrisy (b) Rationalism (c) Individuality (d) Religion
Answer: (c) Individuality

12. The poet says his thoughts are —
(a) Borrowed from others (b) The same as his teachers’ (c) His own and his alone (d) Imaginary
Answer: (c) His own and his alone

13. Where does the poet say his childhood has gone?
(a) To his school (b) To his books (c) To some forgotten place (d) To his parents
Answer: (c) To some forgotten place

14. The “forgotten place” is hidden in —
(a) An old book (b) An infant’s face (c) A village (d) A garden
Answer: (b) An infant’s face

15. The infant’s face symbolises —
(a) Hypocrisy (b) Innocence (c) Sorrow (d) Rebellion
Answer: (b) Innocence

16. The tone of the poem is —
(a) Cheerful and lively (b) Reflective and slightly sad (c) Angry (d) Sarcastic
Answer: (b) Reflective and slightly sad

17. The poem is written in —
(a) Sonnet form (b) Free verse with occasional rhymes (c) Strict iambic pentameter (d) Limerick form
Answer: (b) Free verse with occasional rhymes

18. The repetition of “Was that the day!” creates —
(a) Confusion (b) Emotional intensity and rhythm (c) Humour (d) Anger
Answer: (b) Emotional intensity and rhythm

19. The line “It went to some forgotten place” uses which device?
(a) Simile (b) Metaphor (c) Personification (d) Onomatopoeia
Answer: (b) Metaphor (childhood is treated as if it were a place)

20. The line “talked of love and preached of love” is an example of —
(a) Repetition and alliteration (b) Simile (c) Hyperbole (d) Pun
Answer: (a) Repetition and alliteration

21. In the last stanza, the poet shifts the question from —
(a) Why to How (b) When to Where (c) When to Why (d) Where to How
Answer: (b) When to Where

22. The poem suggests that growing up involves —
(a) Rationalism, hypocrisy and individuality (b) Only ageing (c) Forgetting parents (d) Becoming famous
Answer: (a) Rationalism, hypocrisy and individuality

23. The closing line of the poem is —
(a) “Was that the day!” (b) “That’s all I know.” (c) “When did my childhood go?” (d) “But my own, and mine alone.”
Answer: (b) “That’s all I know.”

24. The poem ultimately ends on a note of —
(a) Despair (b) Hope and consolation (c) Anger (d) Indifference
Answer: (b) Hope and consolation

25. The poem “Childhood” can best be described as a —
(a) Narrative ballad (b) Lyric and reflective poem (c) Comic verse (d) Dramatic monologue
Answer: (b) Lyric and reflective poem

Extract-Based Questions

Extract 1

“When did my childhood go?
Was it the day I ceased to be eleven,
Was it the time I realised that Hell and Heaven,
Could not be found in Geography,
And therefore could not be,
Was that the day!”

(i) Who is the speaker of these lines?
Answer: The speaker of these lines is the poet himself, Markus Natten, who is reflecting on his own life and asking when his childhood ended.

(ii) What does the poet mean by “ceased to be eleven”?
Answer: By “ceased to be eleven” the poet means the day he turned twelve. He uses this expression to suggest that his childhood may have ended around that age, when his way of thinking began to change.

(iii) What did the poet realise about Hell and Heaven?
Answer: The poet realised that Hell and Heaven could not be found in Geography. Since geographical maps did not show them, he concluded that they could not exist as physical places at all.

(iv) What does this realisation suggest about the speaker’s growing up?
Answer: This realisation suggests that the speaker had begun to think rationally rather than accept beliefs blindly. The dawn of rational thought is one of the markers of growing up that the poem identifies.

Extract 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!”

(i) What did the poet realise about adults?
Answer: The poet realised that adults were not all they seemed to be — that there was a clear gap between their words and their actions, especially regarding love.

(ii) What does “talked of love and preached of love” suggest?
Answer: It suggests that adults often spoke about love and even gave moral lectures or sermons recommending it. The repetition emphasises how frequently they made love the subject of their words.

(iii) Why did the poet feel disillusioned?
Answer: The poet felt disillusioned because, despite all the talk of love, adults did not actually behave in a loving manner. Their conduct contradicted their words, which destroyed the speaker’s innocent trust in them.

(iv) What theme is highlighted in this extract?
Answer: The theme of adult hypocrisy is highlighted — the difference between what adults preach and what they actually practise.

Extract 3

(i) What does the poet discover in this stanza?
Answer: The poet discovers his individuality — that his mind belongs entirely to him and that he is free to use it in whatever way he chooses.

(ii) What kind of thoughts does he produce?
Answer: He produces thoughts that are not borrowed from other people but are entirely his own — original thoughts that belong to him alone.

(iii) Why is this discovery considered important?
Answer: This discovery is important because the awareness of individuality and the ability to think independently are essential signs of maturity. With this awareness, the speaker steps out of the dependent world of childhood into the self-reliant world of adulthood.

(iv) What does “mine alone” emphasise?
Answer: “Mine alone” emphasises the absolute personal ownership of one’s thoughts. It highlights the speaker’s discovery that no one else can produce his thoughts for him — they are exclusively his own.

Extract 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.”

(i) How is the question changed in this stanza?
Answer: Earlier the poet asked “When did my childhood go?” Here he changes the question to “Where did my childhood go?” — moving from a question about time to a question about place.

(ii) What is the “forgotten place”?
Answer: The “forgotten place” is a metaphorical location where childhood is said to live. It is hidden in the face of every infant — that is, in the innocence of every newborn child.

(iii) What does the “infant’s face” symbolise?
Answer: The “infant’s face” symbolises pure, untouched innocence. It stands for the trust, simplicity and wonder that the poet associates with the lost world of childhood.

(iv) What is the tone of the closing line “That’s all I know”?
Answer: The tone of “That’s all I know” is humble and accepting. The poet quietly admits that this is the only certainty he has — and yet, in its gentle way, the line is also peaceful and hopeful.

Themes

1. Transition from Innocence to Experience

The most prominent theme of the poem is the transition from the innocence of childhood to the experience of adulthood. The poet describes this transition as a gradual loss — a step-by-step exchange of unconditional trust for cautious awareness. The simple faith of the child is replaced by reason; the trust in adults is replaced by suspicion of their hypocrisy; the dependence on others’ thoughts is replaced by independent thinking. Although these changes are necessary for becoming a mature adult, the poet feels their cost — something pure and beautiful has been left behind.

2. Self-awareness and Individuality

Another important theme is the awakening of self-awareness and individuality. In the third stanza the poet discovers that his mind is really his own and that the thoughts he produces are exclusively his. This realisation marks an important psychological milestone in human development. The poem celebrates this awakening but also recognises that it comes at the cost of leaving the comfortable, shared world of childhood behind.

3. Hypocrisy of Adults

A third theme is the hypocrisy of adults. The poet observes that grown-ups frequently preach about love and other virtues but fail to live by what they preach. Their words and their actions do not match. This discovery is one of the painful turning points in the speaker’s life and is one of the most striking insights of the poem.

4. Rationalism Versus Blind Faith

The first stanza brings out the theme of rationalism. As a small child the poet had accepted the existence of Hell and Heaven on the basis of what adults told him. Growing up, he begins to test this belief against geography and reason and finally rejects it. The poem thus highlights the shift from blind faith to rational, evidence-based thinking — another important marker of maturity.

5. Continuity of Childhood

The closing stanza introduces the theme of the continuity of childhood. Although the speaker’s own childhood has slipped away, he realises that childhood as a quality has not disappeared from the world. It lives on in the face of every newborn infant. This idea gives the poem its tender, hopeful conclusion and makes it more than just a lament for lost innocence.

6. Memory and Nostalgia

Finally, the poem expresses a strong sense of memory and nostalgia. The whole poem is built on the act of looking back and trying to remember. The speaker carries a quiet longing for the certainties of his early years even as he accepts that those years cannot be brought back. This feeling of nostalgic remembrance gives the poem its gentle emotional warmth.

Conclusion

“Childhood” by Markus Natten is a short but deeply moving poem that captures one of the most universal experiences of human life — the gradual passing away of childhood innocence and the slow arrival of adult awareness. Through three repeated questions and three carefully chosen possibilities — rationalism, hypocrisy and individuality — the poet leads the reader on his own honest search for the moment when his childhood ended. He cannot, in the end, locate that exact moment, but he arrives at a beautiful, hopeful answer: childhood has gone to a forgotten place that is hidden in every infant’s face. With its simple language, its haunting repetitions, its tender closing image and its philosophical depth, the poem succeeds in expressing what every reader, sooner or later, has felt — that something precious is lost as we grow up, but that the world’s stock of innocence is constantly renewed in every new child that is born. For ASSEB Class 11 students this poem is a perfect introduction to reflective lyric poetry, and a poem that rewards careful study with insights that go far beyond the classroom.

Summary in One Glance

Aspect	Detail
Poet	Markus Natten
Textbook	Hornbill (ASSEB Class 11)
Form	Free verse with occasional rhyme
Stanzas	Four
Central question	“When did my childhood go?”
Stanza 1 — theme	Rationalism (Hell and Heaven not in geography)
Stanza 2 — theme	Hypocrisy of adults (preach love, do not act lovingly)
Stanza 3 — theme	Individuality (mind is really mine)
Stanza 4 — answer	Childhood is hidden in an infant’s face
Tone	Reflective, slightly sad, finally hopeful
Major themes	Loss of innocence, growing up, hypocrisy, individuality, continuity of childhood