The line "afternoon went black" comes from Eleanor Farjeon's poem "The Quarrel." The girl and her brother were having a talk. Their quarrel lasted all afternoon and into the night. The afternoon became dark, indicating that the struggle that began in the afternoon did not stop until the night. This poem is about hatred between two people. Another example: "Afternoon turned black - so did our hopes." This means that our hopes were lost at the end of the day. We had no hope for tomorrow because today had been hopeless too.