Afternoons Flashcards
who was it written by and some brief life info?:
Philip Larkin (poem published in 1959)
Larkin is a 20th century poet known for celebrating the ordinary. He wrote about topics that were not normally seen to be important enough to write about.
He never went abroad and worked as a librarian in Hull for 30 years.
Larkin was influenced by Hardy who taught him that ‘that a modern poet could write about the life around him in the language of the society around him’.
What are the key themes?
The cyclical nature of life is explored by the ‘young mothers’ and their husbands who have had their places taken by new young lovers whose turn is now to flourish and be loved.
Larkin observes how parents have trapped themselves by having children so young and the inevitability of this type of life for them.
what is the form and structure like?
poem has three stanzas of the same length and uses free verse. A triptych structure
Lists depicts both the mundanity and poignancy of everyday life.
Simple language offers direct access to thoughts of narrator and increases the impact of his message.
Genders are separated by stanzas.
Context…
Philip Larkin was a significant 20th century poet whose work is characterised by detailed observations of everyday life and relationships. His poetry is often described as being melancholic
Although he is also famous for celebrating the ordinary by writing about things not usually considered suitably important enough to be the subject of poetry. He did not marry, had no children, never went abroad and worked as a librarian at Hull University for over 30 years. To many people Larkin’s life seems unremarkable.
Quote 1: ‘in the hollows of afternoons’
creates a sense of emptiness now that the mothers have had their children
quote 2: ‘Setting free their children’
The freedom of the children contrasts with the empty lives of their parents.
quote 3: ‘‘An estateful of washing’
the hyperbolic phrase emphasises how people’s lives have been taken over by the domestic.
quote 4: ‘And the albums, lettered/ Our Wedding, lying/ Near the television’
verb ‘lying’ can be interpreted in two ways (telling a lie and lying down). ‘Our wedding’ has a stereotypical class specific tone and the television takes an equally important place in their lives.
quote 5: ‘unripe acorns’
symbolic of children? natural metaphor used to describe children. But their freedom confines their parents.
quote 6:’their beauty has thickened’
as though the mother feels she is in the autumn of her life
growing old
quote 7:’Something is pushing them/ to the side of their own lives’
the use of an ambiguous pronoun creates a fatalistic feel. The parents are being marginalised but they do not know what by.
