3. The Child is Father of the Man

This line has been taken from Wordsworth who was a great poet of Nature. Wordsworth loved nature in his childhood. He continued to love nature even in his old age. By this quotation Wordsworth means to say that childhood is the nursery of the future man. Impressions received in early life have a lasting influence on the future life of man. Just as the morning shows the Jay, in the same way childhood shows the type of man one would be. The grown up personality of man is found in the seed form in his childhood. If we have good habits in childhood, we shall grow up to be noble men. A child given to lying or gambling or pickpocketing will become a big liar or a thief when he becomes a man. Thus childhood is the formative period of the life of man. Therefore the instincts and impulses of childhood must be areat and noble if one is to be great and noble in manhood. It is in this sense that the child is rather of the man.