At first the statement that the ‘child is the father of man’ seems paradoxical and ambiguous. But Wordsworth while making this statement meant that the qualities exhibited by a child will deepen and appear in a marked form when the child grows up into a man. By observing and studying the behaviour, the inclinations, the preferences, the prejudices and the tendencies of the child, we can form an idea of the sort of a man he will develop into. One’s childhood, therefore, may be taken as forming the basis of one’s manhood. It is in this sense that the child has been called the father of man.
Undoubtedly, the statement signifies the truth generally recognized. The biographies of several great men show that their character and their achievements were foreshadowed and enumerated in their childhood. The average child which shows no remarkable qualities will rarely develop into a remarkable person but an unusual child with striking qualities will grow into a remarkable person with the qualities of his childhood deepened into permanent traits of character.
On the whole, one can confidently say that the statement is true. Sometimes, no doubt, inborn talent is suppressed through total neglect or misdirected training. In such a case the child may not get an opportunity for manifesting its natural bent of mind; but in the long run, native talent or aptitude for a particular work will definitely emerge and the man will achieve distinction in the sphere to which he properly belongs. It is for parents carefully to observe the child and note its peculiarities or learning so that if it displaces a keen preference for a particular branch of knowledge, an inclination towards religion, an irrepressible, intellectual, curiosity, etc. they can, accordingly, train and help in it grow to its natural bent of mind.
Vocabulary
Exhibited—displayed
Manhood—men of a country
