How is the theme of childhood presented Essay

The amatory era ushered in a whole new bureau in which chelargonn were perceived. Romantics did non believe in the Seen but non heard readiness towards kidskinren. The Romantics often busied themselves trying to understand what do a man, what shaped a individuals personality to create the bragging(a). lead poems in The Lyrical Ballads, all by Wordsworth, deal exclusively with the theme of childhood. They atomic number 18 We are S hitherto, Anecdote for Fathers and The idiot Boy. A famous quote by philosopher Jean-Jacques Rosseau states that creation is born free, but e very(prenominal)where he is in chains.By this he meant that we are all born with prohibited whatever laws or morality and that these are ideals we take on however as we age and dismay exposed to them by society. This sentiment is reflected in the aforementi singled poems, as this belief is cardinal of the reasons children were so celebrated by the Romantic movement, they were untainted by the societal rules constrained upon them, and so were a part of reputation in a way an adult could non be. In We are Seven, Wordsworth relates a conversation between the poems vote counter and a green daughter.The young female child claims to have sixth brothers and siss, yet she says that two of them are dead. Despite the vote counters attempts to convince her that makes only quad brothers and sisters, five overall, he eventually concedes that is Throwing delivery away as the young woman is non able to truly compreh completion the realities of oddment. In this poem Wordsworth juxtaposes the cynicism of the narrators weigh of death with the purity of the young girls mint. The narrators view is that although she did have six brothers and sisters, she now only has four.The girls brother and sister are no longer animate and thus tail assemblynot be considered human, and equally can no longer be the girls brother and sister in any real sense, so he only recognises her as having fo ur siblings. The girl however does not see death in that manner. Although she is aware that they are dead, she is not able to properly understand what this means. As the author says What should it know of death? To her, even though they are dead, they are up to now her brother and sister, just as untold as her others and so she sees herself as 1 of seven children.In the poem Wordsworth gives a vivid description of the girl, referring to her as agricultural and having a Woodland air, which overtly links her to nature. The event that the narrator says that her saucer makes me glad shows that Wordsworth is indirectly calling the girl, her honour and nature, which the girl is close to, a extraordinary thing which should be celebrated. Both The doofus Boy and Anecdote for Fathers deal with the imagination. In Anecdote for Fathers the narrator asks his son whether he prefers their home at Kilve or Liswyn Farm.The child clearly has never inventd this, however as his tiro origin ally praises Kilve more than Liswyn Farm, he says that he prefers Kilve, as he believes that is what his father wants to hear. His father however questions his answer, which the child is not prepared for. Looking around in panic he sees a digest vane and res pocket billiardss with At Klive there was no weather-cock, and thats the reason why. The narrator is ecstatic with his sons answer, as he sees his sons cogency to imagine an innocent answer so easily. The father wishes that he could Teach the one percent part of what from thee I learnThe olfaction of excitement in the fathers response seems to stem from Wordsworth lamenting the fact that although he is able to understand how children are able to use their imagination in such(prenominal) ways, he is otiose to imitate them, as he has already succumbed to the cordial ideals. In The Idiot Boy Wordsworth the military unit of society on an adult by comparing the imagination of a child and his mother. In this poem a woman, Betty , is lovingness for her sick friend, Susan. Although Susan requires urgent medical care, Betty cannot see her alone in her state, so she sends insurgent, the Idiot Boy, her mentally handicapped son.She gives him very clear instructions that he is to go straight to the doctor and straight substantiate and not stop. Hours later he has not returned and Betty begins to worry round sad mischances, not a few. In the end Betty decides to go and look for him. As she is out calling his name, she starts to imagine her son macrocosm dead or hurt establish on what she sees. For example when she sees a pond she imagines that her son may have drowned in it. Eventually she discovers that Johnny is safe and well, and has moreover been playing for hours, imagining himself picking stars out of the sky, universe a hunter and being a warrior.The contrast between the imagination of a child, with an extra layer of innocence collectible to his mental handicap, and his mother is incredibly stark. while Johnnys imagination has unplowed him content for hours, Bettys has, in a shorter space of time, made her start to contemplate suicide due to the grief it instilled inwardly her. We then find that Susan has recovered for alone the same reason that Betty felt such despair, all she was able to think about were horrible ways in which Betty and Johnny couldve been hurt and was able to draw strength from her sadness at being unable to help.In the end, when asked what he had been doing for hours, Johnny merely replies The cocks did crow to-whoo, to-whoo, and the sun did shine so cold. Wordsworth called this response Johnnys glory, which very accurately sums up the Romantic ideal of childhood and innocence being a thing to cherish, which was one of the messages Wordsworth and Coleridge tried to present with the Lyrical Ballads.