An Arundel Tomb
A03 context- Late in 1955, Larkin and Monica Jones took a trip
• to Chichester in Sussex where they visited the cathedral and
saw the 14th century memorial to the Earl of Arundel and his
wife, Eleanor. Larkin found the memorial affecting, although he
later expressed disappointment when he discovered that the
linked hands of the pair were a later, unhistorical, addition.
Restored in 1840 by Edward Richardson who added their linked
hands.
Early 60s people were challenging the assumptions of
deference that had been thought part of a well-ordered society.
Commented on the emotional state of ppl in Britain =
impressionistic + the emotions that affect and the scenes that
compel those emotions.
Larkin='Love isn't stronger than death just because statues
hold hands for 600 years'.- Larkin- embarrassed by his own
sentimentalism? Wrote this on the manuscript version- torn
emotions. On the other hand, he later said of the poem, "I think
what survives of us is love, whether in the simple biological
sense or just in terms of responding to life, making it happier,
even if it's only making a joke." Larkin had atheist leanings yet
still took an interest in church going.
Larkin was famously careful about the structuring of his
collections, chosen to end a collection (which in this case is a
decades worth of work) with this last line.
Used in 911 memorials- uplifting interpretation- (last line)
“proved true all over again, and in doing so it calmly conquered
the loathing and rage in which the crime was conceived”.
A04- how we view love over time (first love), passing of time
(mean time). Love survives (prayer), love destroys (Havisham)
or (disgrace- both use sibilance, “suddenly sour on our
tongues”).
Disgrace- Duffy subverts meaning of idiomatic phrases in “we
had not been home in our hearts for months”, AAT subverts
initial connotations in “what will survive of us is love” through
the double undercutting of the ambivalent “almost”.
Havisham and AAT- similar theme of corrosion and dissociation
from the original entity- speaker/subject yearned for something
different to happen over the passage of time and intentions
didn’t come to fruition. Conflicting attitudes due to the
, inevitable passage of time- time will tell its own truths, whether
we like it or not. H- “yellow wedding dress” = physical
manifestation of decay. AAT- decay is a “soundless damage”-
feudal decorum has been rendered redundant in a
contemporary society. Tomb is an allegory for time destroying
an artist’s/ people’s intention (somewhat ironic). Different types
of decay- physical and reputation, though one could argue
reputation has also decayed in H by her being a ‘spinster’.
A05- Andrew Swarbrick- “his poems make us aware of the
interpenetration of fantasy and reality”. Last line- “I think Larkin
forces us here to face our own contradictory nature”- George
Macbeth. Johnathan Edwards- would he be distraught at the
way his real intention for AAT has been eroded to its
epigrammatic ending, just as the meaning of the Earl and
Countess has been eroded to that 1 detail of the held hand?
Johnathan Edwards- “little like Larkin being handed a shield to
defend himself against charges of sentimentality”.
Theme of time-other than the stone itself, little else has stayed
the same-lack of permanence; the poem suggests that the
intended significance of the tomb has been lost. The poem thus
presents time—and the way it facilitates change—as a
relentless force that overrides people's intentions (and,
perhaps, even erodes meaning itself).
Theme of love- a kind of unsettling marriage of two
incompatible ideas: firstly, a cynical idea of love as something
of little value, perhaps just a means through which the human
race multiples and spreads itself; and secondly, the complete
opposite idea that love is an eternal, death-conquering force!
That's why the earl and countess are a kind of paradox, an
example of "stone fidelity"—deadness and coldness on the one
hand, and enduring togetherness on the other.
Structure and form- The poem is written in seven stanzas of
sestets in iambic tetrameter, each rhyming abbcac- neat,
interlocking rhyme scheme, which completes on each stanza.
The poem is also essentially an example of ekphrasis— writing
that focuses on a visual object or work of art. Trochee and
iambic stresses. Regular ABBCAC rhyme scheme, regular
sestets, reflective of Constance and strength of their
A03 context- Late in 1955, Larkin and Monica Jones took a trip
• to Chichester in Sussex where they visited the cathedral and
saw the 14th century memorial to the Earl of Arundel and his
wife, Eleanor. Larkin found the memorial affecting, although he
later expressed disappointment when he discovered that the
linked hands of the pair were a later, unhistorical, addition.
Restored in 1840 by Edward Richardson who added their linked
hands.
Early 60s people were challenging the assumptions of
deference that had been thought part of a well-ordered society.
Commented on the emotional state of ppl in Britain =
impressionistic + the emotions that affect and the scenes that
compel those emotions.
Larkin='Love isn't stronger than death just because statues
hold hands for 600 years'.- Larkin- embarrassed by his own
sentimentalism? Wrote this on the manuscript version- torn
emotions. On the other hand, he later said of the poem, "I think
what survives of us is love, whether in the simple biological
sense or just in terms of responding to life, making it happier,
even if it's only making a joke." Larkin had atheist leanings yet
still took an interest in church going.
Larkin was famously careful about the structuring of his
collections, chosen to end a collection (which in this case is a
decades worth of work) with this last line.
Used in 911 memorials- uplifting interpretation- (last line)
“proved true all over again, and in doing so it calmly conquered
the loathing and rage in which the crime was conceived”.
A04- how we view love over time (first love), passing of time
(mean time). Love survives (prayer), love destroys (Havisham)
or (disgrace- both use sibilance, “suddenly sour on our
tongues”).
Disgrace- Duffy subverts meaning of idiomatic phrases in “we
had not been home in our hearts for months”, AAT subverts
initial connotations in “what will survive of us is love” through
the double undercutting of the ambivalent “almost”.
Havisham and AAT- similar theme of corrosion and dissociation
from the original entity- speaker/subject yearned for something
different to happen over the passage of time and intentions
didn’t come to fruition. Conflicting attitudes due to the
, inevitable passage of time- time will tell its own truths, whether
we like it or not. H- “yellow wedding dress” = physical
manifestation of decay. AAT- decay is a “soundless damage”-
feudal decorum has been rendered redundant in a
contemporary society. Tomb is an allegory for time destroying
an artist’s/ people’s intention (somewhat ironic). Different types
of decay- physical and reputation, though one could argue
reputation has also decayed in H by her being a ‘spinster’.
A05- Andrew Swarbrick- “his poems make us aware of the
interpenetration of fantasy and reality”. Last line- “I think Larkin
forces us here to face our own contradictory nature”- George
Macbeth. Johnathan Edwards- would he be distraught at the
way his real intention for AAT has been eroded to its
epigrammatic ending, just as the meaning of the Earl and
Countess has been eroded to that 1 detail of the held hand?
Johnathan Edwards- “little like Larkin being handed a shield to
defend himself against charges of sentimentality”.
Theme of time-other than the stone itself, little else has stayed
the same-lack of permanence; the poem suggests that the
intended significance of the tomb has been lost. The poem thus
presents time—and the way it facilitates change—as a
relentless force that overrides people's intentions (and,
perhaps, even erodes meaning itself).
Theme of love- a kind of unsettling marriage of two
incompatible ideas: firstly, a cynical idea of love as something
of little value, perhaps just a means through which the human
race multiples and spreads itself; and secondly, the complete
opposite idea that love is an eternal, death-conquering force!
That's why the earl and countess are a kind of paradox, an
example of "stone fidelity"—deadness and coldness on the one
hand, and enduring togetherness on the other.
Structure and form- The poem is written in seven stanzas of
sestets in iambic tetrameter, each rhyming abbcac- neat,
interlocking rhyme scheme, which completes on each stanza.
The poem is also essentially an example of ekphrasis— writing
that focuses on a visual object or work of art. Trochee and
iambic stresses. Regular ABBCAC rhyme scheme, regular
sestets, reflective of Constance and strength of their
