Real Childhood by Alice Meynell

Name: Real Childhood
Author: Alice Meynell

"REAL CHILDHOOD" is a collection of essays and poetry written by Alice Meynell in the early 20th century. The book explores themes of childhood, innocence, and the passage of time, as well as the author's own experiences as a mother and a woman. Through her writing, Meynell reflects on the joys and challenges of raising children, the importance of preserving childhood innocence, and the ways in which society and culture shape our understanding of what it means to be a child.

By Alice Meynell · First published 1895 · Genre: Non-Fiction, Essays, Social Science · 1,483 words

First lines

The world is old because its history is made up of successive childhoods and of their impressions. Your hours when you were six were the enormous hours of the mind that has little experience and constant and quick forgetfulness. Therefore when your mother's visitor held you so long at his knee, while he talked to her the excited gibberish of the grown-up, he little thought what he forced upon you; what the things he called minutes really were, measured by a mind unused; what passive and then what desperate weariness he held you to by his slightly gesticulating hands that pressed some absent-minded caress, rated by you at its right value, in the pauses of his anecdotes. You, meanwhile, were infinitely tired of watching the play of his conversing moustache.

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Real Childhood is listed on Textopian as a poem by Alice Meynell, dated 1895 CE.

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Work type: Poem
Author: Alice Meynell
Date: 1895 CE
Language: English
Genres: Non-Fiction, Essays, Social Science, Parenting
Length: 1,483 words
Structure: 1 section, 11 paragraphs
Reading fit: Standard (8th-9th Grade)

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Genres

Non-Fiction — The book 'Real Childhood' is a collection of Alice Meynell's essays about childhood experiences, hence, it falls under the non-fiction genre.
Essays — The book is composed of various pieces of writing addressing different topics concerning childhood, which qualifies it as an 'essay' genre.
Social Science — The book also delves into the social aspects of a child's environment and how it influences them, making it relevant to social science.
Parenting — Some discussions in the book provide insights on guiding children in different situations, hence it also fits into the parenting genre.