Afternoons quotes: Which line describes mothers gathering?

• A. Summer is fading: The leaves fall in ones and twos
• B. Young mothers assemble
• C. And the children, so intent on finding more unripe acorns, except to be taken home
• D. Pushing them to the side of their own lives

Answer: (B)

The line that describes mothers gathering is the one that literally says “Young mothers assemble.” This moment is a direct image of mothers coming together in the afternoon, which is exactly what the question asks you to identify. The other lines shift focus to seasonal changes, to children’s actions, or to mothers pushing their own lives aside, none of which capture the act of the mothers gathering in the scene. In context, this line helps convey the poem’s sense of how afternoons become a social space for mothers and how time and routine shape family life.