AFTERNOONS Flashcards
1
Q
Poet // date
A
Philip Larkin // 1959
2
Q
Historical context
A
- Post war period of austerity
- Clear that promised utopia will not occur
- Bleak hopelessness prevails
- Absense of divine power reflects agnostic questioning following WW2
3
Q
What does agnostic mean?
A
A person who believes nothing can be known about the existence of god (skeptical, doubtful etc)
4
Q
Literary context
A
- Celebrating ordinary (some find sneering?)
- Movement poet believing in simple and conventional poetry
- Embraced Englishness with realism and honesty
Sneerful tone embodies English sarcastic
5
Q
Form and structure
A
3 stanzas of same length in free verse
Simple language = direct access to thoughts of narrator
Genders separated by stanzas
6
Q
‘Summer is fading’
A
- End of honeymoon period
- Reality to begin
