English SL

Assignment 1

An Arundel Tomb

Philip larkin’s “An Arundel Tomb conveys the perceptions of a tourist who is currently
present at the tomb using extensive amounts of visual imagery. The main theme of the
poem revolves around timeless love however a slightly ironical tone has been used at
times. The poem starts off with the literal depiction of two sculptors in a tomb and
progresses towards the end of the poem having a strong, figurative impact of love and
identity, on the reader.

The structure of the poem is consistent throughout the whole poem, i.e. six lines in each
stanza, with a total of seven stanzas. Each line of the poem is almost equally long and the
poem has a visible rhyme scheme. The second and the third line of each stanza have a
rhyme, rather a half rhyme, as does the fourth and sixth line of each stanza. The rhyme
scheme of the poem therefore tends to be abbcac

The first stanza of the poem gives a very visual outlook to the readers. It also suggests
that the sculptors in the tomb existed since a very long time. “Their face blurred”,
suggests that the sculptors had been eroded over a long period of time resulting in the loss
of the carvings made on the sculptor faces. However this could also imply that their
identities had been lost over the period of years. The poet has used the phrase “lie in
stone”. This could suggest that the two sculptors were placed besides each other and that
the stone symbolizes the ‘strong’ love they shared. However, the world lie also means to
hide the truth. The poet could have also tried to convey to the readers that the stone was
lying to the viewers about the apparent love shown on the sculptors. Another observation
could be that the phrase “stiffened pleat” could indicate that the sculptors were hard and
stiff, therefore could not help moving apart even if they did not love each other.

The poet further progresses to describe the sculptors using extensive visual imagery. The
use of the word “pre-baroque” suggests the period of time before the baroque, which was
an era of European art and music, therefore conveying to the reader the time period of the
sculptors. “pre-baroque’ could also suggest that the architecture of the sculptors was
extremely simple. The description of the sculptor gives a clear image of the sculptor to
the readers and adds to the setting of the poem. The details of the actions of the sculptor
are so intricate – “clasped empty in the other”. In the fifth line of the second stanza, the
poet has used an oxymoron, “tender shock”, which could be a result of the viewers who
are amazed by the simple, yet beautiful architecture of the sculptors; however, it could
also imply Anachronism, which refers to the depiction of an event, place, etc before it
ever existed. The sculptors are seen holding hands, which is considered as public
affection, which at that point of time was not permitted “his hand withdrawn, holding
hers”.

The third stanza speaks about the sculptor of these sculptors, who probably made these
sculptors ahead of his time so that the viewers would admire it and probably will have to
ponder over it rather than just viewing it and walking away. The viewers of that age
might have wondered about the depiction of the sculptor, however, the viewers nowadays
would consider it common. This observation, when deeply thought of, shows a transition
in the thinking of the people. Another point made by the poet is that the sculptors were
made in olden times, when Latin was the language used. “A sculptor’s sweet
commissioned grace Thrown off in helping to prolong The Latin names around the base”.
This line suggests that in spite of people acknowledging the sculptor’s art, the identity of
those sculptures was unknown. Even though the sculptor had mentioned their identity, it
was in Latin, which is very uncommon in today’s world. Therefore, it implies that the
hard work of the sculptor was not appreciated to the fullest.

The point that the poet has tried to depict in the fourth stanza is that the companionship
and their love has been preserved for a “supine stationary voyage”. They are not
physically moving, but the word of their love is being spread through time. However, this
could also imply that their love is no longer present, but the people perceive their gesture
of holding hands is love. Another observation is that the since these sculptures have been
made till the current time, there have been a lot of change. At first, the people knew who
these sculptures were, therefore could relate to the sculptures lives, however, now the
“succeeding eyes begin To look, not read”.

The fifth stanza consists of a lot of visual imagery since it describes the endless passage
of time, through different seasons and moments such as “Snow fell”, which indicates
winter, “Light each summer” and the “litter of birdcalls” which indicates spring. The use
of the constant s’ in the words “persisted”, “lengths” and “breadths” produces a very slow
and a smooth sound of the alphabet s, which probably is used to add to the effect of
portraying the different dimensions of time. The use of the words “altered people”
suggests that the people who are visiting the tomb now are unaware of the life story of
the sculptures and are probably misinterpreting it, which can lead to various different
interpretations of the sculptures story. The poet has used enjambment, which refers to-
not ending a stanza and continuing it to the next stanza. This literary feature probably
implies the continuous period of time which the sculptures have been there for.

The sixth stanza continues from the fifth stanza with the phrase “washing their identities
Now, helpless in the hollow of an unarmorial age”. This probably signifies that the
sculptures are ‘seeing’ everything going on in front of them. They are also noticing the
different stories spoken about them, many of which may not be true, but they are
“helpless” since they are hard stone and cannot do anything about it. The use of the word
“unarmorial” also suggests that these sculptures were too weak to convey their true
meaning, like a soldier, who is weak and prone to harm without any armor. The visual
imagery used such as “trough of smoke in slow suspended skeins” also adds to the
feeling of deterioration of their true identity. The poet has also used alliteration (the use
of the same consonant sound at the beginning of two or more words) in the phrase
“smoke in slow suspended skeins”. The poet has probably used this to emphasize on the
endless time the sculpture has been present and is being constantly eroded.
The last phrase of the sixth stanza “only an attitude remains” along with the seventh
stanza, depicts that the poet is trying to convey a simple, yet thoughtful message. The
intention of the poem is very well understood by reading the last stanza. The poet tries to
convey that in spite of time disfiguring “them unto untruth”, their message of love will
always be present. The poet tries to say that the identity and the looks of an eternally
famous person are not significant, what is important, is the fact that the message they
were standing for is clear and ever lasting.

The poem is a very well written poem, wherein the poet has included a few literary
features, which add to the effect of the message. According to me, the message conveyed,
i.e. love is eternal and even if the emotions and gestures of expressing love change, the
purity in the feeling of love always remains the same.