CHILDHOOD
~Summary~
-by MarkusNatten
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 wonders when he lost his childhood. He reflects thatperhaps it was
the day when he crossed the age of eleven. Maybe it was the stage when he realised that
the concepts of Hell and Heaven, about which he had been taught since his childhood,
did not exist in reality. Geography textbooks did not give the location of any such places.
The poet realises that he might have lost his childhood when he gained his rational outlook
due to getting educated.
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!
FATHER TO SON
~Summary~
-by ElizabethJennings
Stanza- 1
I do not understand this child
Though we have lived together now
In the same house for years. I know
Nothing of him, so try to build
Up a relationship from how
He was when small.
Explanation:The father unhappily reflects on his inability to understand hisown son. They have been stayingin
the same house for years but, due to non-communication and a lack of understanding, both son and father
are not able to understand each other. The father does not know much about his son's interests, likes or dislikes.
Thus, he try to build up the same kind of relationship as he used to have when his son was a little child. The father
has now perhaps realised that there is a lack of understanding between his son and himself and he wants to take
measures so that their relationship improves.
Stanza-2
Yet have I killed
The seed I spent or sown it where
The land is his and none of mine?
We speak like strangers, there's no sign
Of understanding in the air.
This child is built to my design
Yet what he loves I cannot share.
Explanation:The father wonders whether it is he himself who is responsible for the failure of the relationship.
The father feels that though the child is his son but perhaps he lives in a world different from him. Both father
and son behave like strangers. There is lack of understanding and a communication gap which makes them
behave not like father and son but more like strangers. The father says that physically the child resembles him
but he does not appreciate what his son likes.
Stanza-3
Silence surrounds us. I would have
Him prodigal, returning to
His father's house, the home he knew,
Rather than see him make and move
His world. I would forgive him too,
Shaping from sorrow a new love.
Explanation:Silence surrounds their relationship 1 because there is a complete lack of communication between
them. The father sees his son as a prodigal (meaning, a child who foolishly runs away from home) and wants
him to return to the home he has always known, so that they can rebuild the relationship to have a new start.
He does not want the son to start life afresh without the father. He further says that he is willing to forgive his
son for running away. Here the father's tone is somewhat condescending, implying that the father is unable to
let his son go, despite restricting the son's independence and development.
Stanza- 4
Father and son, we both must live
On the same globe and the same land,
He speaks: I cannot understand
Myself, why anger grows from grief.
We each put out an empty hand,
Longing for something to forgive.
Explanation:Both fathers and their sons all over the world must learn to live together in spite of their
misunderstandings and differences. At this point in the poem, the son speaks for the first time and
admits that he too feels the sadness of the broken relationship, but he is angry due to his confusion.
Both father and son want to forgive each other, but neither is ready to take the first step of asking
forforgiveness from the other. However, the situation can improve if they find a way of getting closer
to each other.
In this stanza, the poet reflects that maybe theloss of childhood occurred when he was
able to see through the hypocrisy of adults. These people followed double standards, actually following
and preaching different standards of behaviour. They told the poet to be loving and caring; however
they themselves were argumentative, violent and discourteous. Their behaviour was a far cry from the
love they sermonised about and advocated so reverently to the child. Perhaps, says the poet, recognising
broken trust was a major step towards adulthood.
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:The poet asks the same question again and again but with different options. He is trying to
guess when he actually lost his childhood. Perhaps, it was the day when he realised that his mind could
think independently, forming his own opinions and being able to take his own decisions. He gained a
sense of individuality, which set him free from the preconceived opinions of others. His own individual
opinions and experiences shape his thoughts now and he realised that this might have been the time
when he lost his childhood innocence completely.
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:In this stanza the poet changes his question. The poet now wonders where his childhood
has gone. He reflects that may be his childhood has gone to an unremembered place. The poet also
says that childhood can be found in the innocent face of a child who does not have any pretensions
and rationality and who trusts others unconditionally. In other words, a small child is full of innocence
and there one can find one's own childhood.