Afternoons (Philip Larkin) Flashcards
“Summer is fading:”
seasonal metaphor = youth/life slipping away
end of warmth/vitality - transition into colder less vibrant season
• “fading” = passive decline → inevitability of ageing
• opening colon = signals expansion into reflection - caesura - sense of inevitable change - hesitation
Larkin begins with a quiet image of time passing, immediately evoking transience and loss of vitality.
The leaves fall in ones and twos”
natural imagery = gentle, steady decay
• “ones and twos” = lack of energy, isolation
Gradual loss - unnoticed passing of time
• soft rhythm = mirrors quiet disintegration
Larkin mirrors emotional withdrawal through the slow, sparse fall of leaves—symbolic of fragmented identity.
From trees bordering / The new recreation ground.”
• “bordering” = peripheral → symbolises women pushed aside
sense of limitations & boundaries - constrains of suburban life
• enjambment = flow disrupted → social change not seamless
• “new recreation” = modern family life, artificial and impersonal
Larkin places nature and women at the margins, overshadowed by mechanised modernity.
“Young mothers assemble / At swing and sandpit”
verb “assemble” = mechanical, emotionless action - mundane/repetitive
Connotations of routine - lack of individuality
• playground = symbol of duty, not joy
Lives governed by children and society
• enjambment = lacks personal connection
Larkin presents motherhood as a repetitive role, where routine replaces identity.
“Behind them, at intervals, / Stand husbands in skilled trades”
• physical placement “behind” = emotional absence - distance and detachment
• “at intervals” = sporadic support - not constant - gender differences
• working-class realism = marriage shaped by duty, not passion
skilled trades - implies specialisation contrasting with undervalued roles of mothers
Larkin suggests the emotional disconnect in relationships, framed by traditional, gendered expectations.
“Our Wedding, lying / Near the television:”
noun “lying” = discarded, casual → fading sentiment
even cherished memories are now dormant, unused and unimportant
• juxtaposition “wedding” + “television” = lost intimacy vs daily distraction
• possessive “Our” becomes meaningless over time
Larkin shows how romantic ideals become reduced to background clutter in domestic life.
“Before them, the wind / Is ruining their courting-places”
pathetic fallacy = external world mirrors emotional decay
unpredictable and inevitable
• verb “ruining” = destruction of love, spontaneity
• “courting-places” = nostalgic image, now eroded
Larkin mourns the erosion of romance, now displaced by mundane adulthood and responsibilities.
“And their children, so intent on / Finding more unripe acorns”
• metaphor “unripe acorns” = innocence, potential → not yet mature
Juxtaposition - unfulfilled adults
• “so intent” = contrast with detached parents
• enjambment = youthful energy overflowing structure
Larkin contrasts youthful curiosity with adult weariness, highlighting the transfer of vitality across generations.
“Something is pushing them / To the side of their own lives.”
vague noun “Something” = abstract, systemic pressure
• line break = physical + emotional displacement
• metaphor = women marginalised, lives dictated by role
Forced to exist on the periphery of their own lives
Larkin ends with a haunting image of quiet erasure—women no longer agents of their lives, but observers.
Title: Afternoons
• plural = ongoing, repetitive cycle of time
• “Afternoons” = liminal, overlooked part of the day → mirrors overlooked lives
• lacks drama → quiet erosion, not crisis
• signals routine and emotional monotony
Structure & Form
• 3 equal stanzas = regularity, domestic routine
• free verse = lack of emotional flow, stilted lives
• no rhyme = realism, emotional detachment
• enjambment = lives drifting with no clear breaks
Context
• post-war England → rise in suburban living, gender roles still rigid
• Larkin = famously cynical, focused on disillusionment
• poem published 1959 = reflects social expectations of motherhood + marriage
• observes from distance = detached speaker, voyeuristic tone
Themes
Loss of identity
• Passage of time
• Routine and domestic entrapment
• Disillusionment with love/marriage
• Gender roles and societal expectations
