Afternoons, by Philip Larkin Flashcards
Who is the speaker in the poem? What about?
This is a melancholy poem, which reflects on the subject of marriage.
The poem deals with Larkin’s view on young mothers watching their children playing in a playground
Larkin’s description of young mothers who give up their lives too soon
When/Where?
playground
Why?
What seems like an ordinary, everyday occurrence highlights the theme of change and how it cannot be avoided, like the passing of time.
Context
- published in 1964 looking back at the 1950s
- Larkin never married or had children
- cynical poet –> blunt
- post-war poet
Structure
- The first stanza deals with Larkin’s rather cynical view of marriage and deals with the idea that the young mothers are isolated
- In the second stanza Larkin moves from the general view into the individual and describes the mothers as being alone with little support from their working husbands
- In the third stanza Larkin focuses back onto the children and how because of them the mothers are unable to live their own lives and they are merely looking in. Their dreams, aspirations and needs have been put to the side
Form
- free verse
- 3 stanzas - equal length
–> symbolises the grinding routine
short lines = youth being cut short
unfulfilled lives with no energy
What does the title suggest?
The title suggests that the young mothers are in the ‘afternoons’ of their lives where children have taken away their identities and their lives are not their own
First line + analysis
‘Summer is fading:’
‘Summer’ could represent the happy times in life and the verb ‘fading’ implies that their life/happiness is coming to an end
What is meant by ‘fall in ones and twos’?
decline is gradual and almost unnoticeable
Analysis on ‘trees bordering’
The trees are ‘bordering’ which is almost stopping the mothers escaping.
What does the adjective new suggest?
new stage in the mothers’ lives
could also suggest that there is a new
generation
What does the word ‘hollows’ suggest?
the mothers’ lives are empty
Analyse ‘Young mothers assemble’
The word ‘assemble’ suggests that the mothers gather without choice and that it is routine.
‘Setting their children free’ analysis
The children are being set ‘free’.
Freedom is something that these mothers crave.
What does ‘Behind them’ suggest?
mothers do not feel like they are supported by their husbands
What does ‘skilled trades’ suggest?
the women are not recognised for how they raise their children.
They don’t earn any qualifications and are almost seen as being unskilled
‘An estateful’ analysis
The mothers do not have their own identities and Larkin is suggesting that all of the women do the same tasks
Analysis on ‘Our Wedding, lying
Near the television:’
‘Lying’ suggests that the wedding album is ignored just like their relationships with
their partners.
This is not the most important thing anymore in their live
Who is being referred to in the line ‘But the lovers are all in school’?
The ‘lovers’ are who the parents used to be before they had children.
Or the ‘lovers’ could be the younger generation of people who are in new relationships - cycle continues
What does ‘unripe acorns’ suggest?
The adjective ‘unripe’ suggests that the children are unaware of what life will be like when they are older.
They are still naïve, not ready for adulthood
What does ‘expect’ suggest?
‘Expect’ suggests that the children make demands on their mothers and that their mothers have no choice
Analysis on ‘Their beauty has thickened’
‘thickened’ suggests that the mothers are
growing older and they are not as beautiful as they used to be.
They have no time to look after themselves
Last lines + analysis
‘Something is pushing them/To the side of their own lives’
‘something’ suggests that the mothers do not realise who or what is ‘pushing ‘them
verb ‘pushing’ suggests that the mothers are being forced away from their own lives
at the side now looking in on a life that isn’t theirs; a life that they have no control over
