An Arundel Tomb

‘Side by side’

Assonance - giving emphasis to the proximity and perhaps intimacy of the couple

‘their faces blurred’

Erosion and pollution suggesting the corroding nature of time

‘The earl and countess lie’

Polysomy? Larkin once again questions the validity of art

‘Such plainness of the pre-baroque

Hardly involves the eye,”

Poetic voice (Larkin) is that of an initially detached and unengaged observer

‘Sharp, tender shock’

Oxymoron. Striking. Expresses both surprise and emotional engagement. This is as he sees that the couple by the sculptor as holding hands.

‘They would not think to lie so long’

Polysomy. The poet begins to speculate on the couple’s intentions and motivations in commissioning the effigy. Larkin is once again questioning the veracity of art. Does the statue constitute a truthful representation of the enduring nature of romantic love.

‘Was just a detail friends would see: a sculptor’s sweet commissioned grace’

‘Speculating that the detail was intended for friends and family. Could not conceive a 20th century tourist viewing the effigy.

‘The Latin names around the base’

Latin names - what they imagined would exhibit their identity

‘They would not guess’

Larkin continues to speculate

‘supine stationary voyage’

Sibilance + oxymoron. Oxymoron conveys the ambiguous nature of the voyage. Travelling through time. 14th century to modernity (mid 20th century). Sibilance suggests corrosive affects of pollution (especially acid rain) denoting Larkin’s negative view of modernity.

‘Rigidly they / persisted’

Enjambment conveys the rapid progression of time. Swift / relentless passage of time

‘Snow fell, undated’

Striking image expressing the passage of time throughout the centuries

‘Light each summer thronged the glass’

Numinous imagery opposite to the everyday quotidian images.

‘A bright litter of birdcalls’

Numinous natural imagery suggestive of regeneration.

‘The hollow of an unarmorial age’

Unromantic age. Drab/ grey/ dull. Empty and lacking substance. Lakin’s view of modernity - sense of alienation and nostalgia.

‘Only an attitude remains’

Only their pose / posture remains.

‘Time has transfigured them into untruth’

Evaluative tone as faithfulness. Larkin reflects and tries to make sense of what he’s viewing. ‘Untruth’ - statue’s promise of enduring and transcendent love is deceptive?

‘The stone fidelity / they hardly meant has come to be / their final blazon’

Blazon - motif. Suggests that their love wasn’t as faithful and consuming as statue depicts.

‘Our almost-instinct almost true:

What will survive of us is love.’

Ending of poem and also ending of the collection is ambiguous. Could be read as another of Larkin’s rejection of the consoling promises of art or could be read as a surprisingly emphatic endorsement of the transcendent and enduring power of love.