Afternoons - Philip Larkin Flashcards
“Summer”
“Summer is fading”
Larkin has a wistful, yearnful tone for the past setting forth motion of summer to autumn. Summer is known for its brightness but now it is fading and becoming mellow till it morphs into Autumn
“Assemble”
“Young mothers assemble”
The use of such a formal word in ‘assemble’ suggest how the mothers do so out of duty rather than to have fun falling into societal expectations. It is almost as if their lives are taken away from them and known they are only their children’s parents
“Television”
“Our Wedding lying Near the television”
A memorable event such as their Wedding has lost all excitement and is forgotten. The relevance is lost by the kids and replaced with the modern TV. It is ‘near’ the TV showing how it should be used but always falls short to desire
“Beauty”
“Their beauty has thickened”
As they have grown older their beauty has faded and is blended into the identity of the children making them “thicker”. “Thickened” also has visceral connotations suggesting how with age their beauty has become an accessory
“Own lives”
“Something pushing them to the side of their own lives”
Pushing suggests how they are being forced into watching their own lives. They are now to the ‘side’ and can only be observant to what happens in their lives as they are trapped by society and the routine enforced by children
