English (Core) · Class 11 Languages
Ch 8Childhood — Class 11 English (Core), concept-first.
Markus Natten is remembered for this short, deeply reflective poem in which a young speaker looks back and tries to pin down the exact moment his childhood slipped away. Written in a simple, questioning voice, the poem reads almost like a child thinking aloud, and that plainness is what makes it so moving.
18
Q&A
2
Concepts
31m
Section weightage
Section C · Literature Textbooks (Hornbill & Snapshots) · across all 16 lessons
Key concepts
Hover a concept to preview it and jump to its most relevant Q&A.
Literary Analysis Question
You've read a poem, a story, or a play. Now someone asks: "How does the author use imagery to reveal the speaker's inner conflict?" That's a literary analysis question.
Most relevant Q&A
- Identify the stanza that talks of each of the following. individuality rationalism hypocrisyFree
- What according to the poem is involved in the process of growing up?Free
- What is the poet's feeling towards childhood?Preview
- Which do you think are the most poetic lines? Why?Preview
- What question does the speaker keep asking in the first three stanzas of 'Childhood', and how does the question change in the final stanza?…Free
Chapter contents
The NCERT structure, section by section. Open a section to see its questions, then read the concept-first solution.
About the Poet and the Poem
Markus Natten is remembered for this short, deeply reflective poem in which a young speaker looks back and tries to pin down the exact moment his childhood slipped away.
Central Idea and Summary
The central idea of the poem is that childhood does not end on a fixed day; it fades gradually as a child begins to reason, to see the world honestly, and to think independently.
Stanza-wise Explanation
The speaker asks when his childhood left him and offers his first guess: perhaps it went the day he stopped being eleven and realised, through reasoning, that Hell and Heaven could not be found in Geo…
Poetic Devices
Rhetorical Question The entire poem is shaped around questions the speaker asks himself without expecting a real answer.
Theme and Message
The Loss of Innocence The poem's chief theme is the loss of childhood innocence. The speaker realises that the trusting, untroubled world of childhood is gone, and he feels its absence keenly enough t…
Summary
- Poet poem: Childhood by Markus Natten — a short reflective poem in which a young speaker asks when and where his childhood disappeared.
Think it out
+−Think it outi4 questions
Additional Practice
Extra exam-style practice questions written by us on this lesson — beyond the NCERT textbook's own exercises — for more CBSE board-exam preparation.
+−Additional Practicei14 questions
- Q1What question does the speaker keep asking in the first three stanzas of 'Childhood', and how does the question change in the final stanza?…Free
- Q2Why does the speaker wonder whether his childhood ended on the day he ceased to be eleven? What does this guess suggest about how we usually…Free
- Q3What did the speaker realise about Heaven and Hell, and what conclusion did he draw from this realisation? (Answer in 30–40 words.)Free
- Q4In what way, according to the second stanza, did adults fail to practise what they preached? How did this discovery affect the child? (Answe…Preview
- Q5What discovery about his own mind does the speaker describe in the third stanza, and why does he treat it as a possible end of childhood? (A…Preview
- Q6Where, according to the final stanza, has the speaker's childhood gone? What is significant about the place he names? (Answer in 30–40 words…Preview
- Q7Which stanza of the poem deals with rationalism, and what does rationalism mean in the context of the child's thinking? (Answer in 30–40 wor…Preview
- Q8What effect does the repeated exclamatory line that closes each of the first three stanzas have on the mood and structure of the poem? (Answ…Preview
- Q9Is the poet's feeling towards the loss of his childhood one of bitter regret, calm acceptance, or a mixture of both? Support your view with…Preview
- Q10Trace the three stages by which, according to the poem, the speaker's childhood came to an end — the growth of reason, the discovery of adul…Preview
- Q11Explain the meaning of the last stanza of 'Childhood'. How is the answer to the question 'where' different in kind from the speculations abo…Preview
- Q12Discuss the major themes of 'Childhood' — the loss of innocence as the price of growing up, rationalism, hypocrisy and individuality — and s…Preview
- Q13Comment on the chief poetic devices used in 'Childhood' — the refrain-like repetition of the opening question, rhetorical questions, irony,…Preview
- Q14Growing up in 'Childhood' is presented both as a loss and as a gain. Justify this statement with close reference to the poem, and state the…Preview