Question

Theme of the poem the house of my childhood

Answer 1

Stanza 1: The poet is curious to know when he lost his childhood. He tries to find out the answer of his own question. He feels it was perhaps that day when he discovered the theories of Heaven and Hell and that Geography did not provide him any information about the existence of such place. Education has made the poet look at the world different with more o reason and logic. The poet feels that he had probably lost his childhood when he had acquired a rational thinking towards his surroundings.

Stanza 2: In this stanza, the poet figures out that the adults around him did not practice what they usually preached. They taught others to be loving and caring when they themselves were violent and mean. This is when the child lost his trust and faith in the adults. The poet realizes that probably the loss of faith and trust might have been the major steps towards losing his childhood.

Stanza 3: The poet while growing up realizes that his mind is powerful and it takes its own decisions. His own opinions and thoughts have earned him individuality free from the biased notions of others. This is when he thinks that his individuality and experiences have taken away the childhood from him.

Stanza 4: Finally, in the ending stanza of the poem, “Childhood”, the poet changes his question from ‘when’ to ‘where’ he has lost his childhood. The answer is an easy one. Markus Natten says that his childhood has gone hiding into some forgotten place. It can found in an infant’s face. The last lines can be interpreted as that the childhood is a lost memory. We recall the fantasies and the moments associated with it but at the same time, the innocence and the childhood are irrevocably lost.