afternoons

• "summer is fading"


  • peaked they are middle aged
  • metaphor - change in season mirrors change in life
  • The fading of summer and the onset of autumn could symbolize the transition from youth to maturity, and the inevitable passage of time23.
• "their beauty has thickened"

  “thickened”

  • This could be seen as a positive transformation, indicating growth and development
  • could imply a maturing or deepening of beauty, suggesting that the young mothers’ beauty has evolved from a youthful, superficial beauty to a more profound, mature beauty that comes with life experiences
• "their beauty has thickened"


  'thickened'

  • might suggest that their beauty has become burdensome or heavy
  • This could reflect the weight of their responsibilities as mothers and wives, suggesting that their beauty is no longer carefree and light, but rather weighed down by the realities of their lives
• "something is pushing them to the side of their own lives"

  “Something is pushing them”

  • implies an external force or societal pressure that is causing this feeling of displacement
  • It suggests that these women are not willingly stepping aside, but rather are being pushed by circumstances beyond their control
• “something is pushing them to the side of their own lives” 


  "side of their own lives"

  • could represent the roles and responsibilities that they have taken on as mothers and wives, which may feel separate or disconnected from their individual identities
  • It could also suggest a sense of longing or nostalgia for their past lives, before they took on these roles
• "an estateful of washing"

  “estateful”

  • refers to the large amount of laundry that is visible in the housing estate, symbolizing the domestic duties that the women in the poem are responsible for
  • The image of an entire estate filled with washing lines creates a powerful visual representation of the pervasive nature of these domestic tasks