Love in Larkin's 'An Arundel Tomb'
By Oliver
"Time has transfigured them into
'An Arundel Tomb' recounts Larkins' visit to the tomb of the earl and countess of Arundel. The tomb acts as a complex symbol of human attitudes towards love and art through which Larkin explores the evanescence of power and identity. Throughout the poem Larkin considers how the meaning of this 'effigy' has 'blurred' and how modern visitors of the tomb insert themselves into the place of the Earl and Countess; transforming the monument into an emblem of unyielding devotion. Larkin approaches this interpretation with cynicism, suggesting that the tenderness portrayed in the tomb is one of deceit and 'untruth' and that a marriage of that time would have more likely been a business exchange than one of love. This leaves Larkin and the reader to grapple with the two views and ask themselves, what legacy will we leave centuries on.
The poem begins with a description of the tomb and 'The earl and Countess', Larkin describes their faces as 'blurred' and states that their 'habits' are only 'vaguely shown', This not only creates the image of a statue worn away over centuries but also acts as a metaphor alluding to the idea that time obscures the lines between fact and fiction. Larkin continues to examine these ideas through his use of homophone. By using words which have more than one definition Larkin demonstrates how meaning can often appear ambiguous, for example 'habits' can either mean the clothing worn by the statues which has deteriorated and lost detail since the statue was built becoming 'vague'. Or could indicate that the Earl and Countess's behaviours have become 'vague', the nature of the couple's relationship is indeterminable. Another homophone used is 'lie', while on the surface this simply means that the couple are physically lying down, it also could mean that the perception of the relationship as a romantic one is false, ' time has transfigured them into untruth'.
Larkin suggests that time is not the only thing responsible for the erosion of the couple's identity, the judgements of others has also contributed. Larkin uses the oxymoron 'stationary voyage' to show how the statue has travelled not through space but through time and how through this 'voyage' the meaning of the tomb has come to mean something fundamentally different. It is human nature for people to insert themselves into the lives of others and the modern visitors who visit the tomb project their modern views (that marriage as a declaration of love) onto the ancient figures; this has 'washed at ' the 'identity' of the figures. Larkin appears to take a cynical viewpoint on this, suggesting that the 'unarmorial age' that we live in is 'hollow', that we put too much value on love. He also indicates that it is 'hollow' when we constantly project ourselves onto everything that we see and that it is damaging that we simply 'look' and don't 'read' into things. However, Larkin does not present this view without nuance. The whole genre of the poem contradicts this point, the poem is an ekphrasis, a piece of art about another piece of art, and as much as Larkin distains at those who push their own beliefs about love on, Larkin similarly projects his own cynisms surrounding love onto the tomb.
Larkin's cynisms largely stem from the fact that he believes the statue creates a false ideal of love, and this idea is largely demonstrated through the hand holding figures, reflected in the ABBCAC rhyme scheme of the poem. When Larkin sees the Earl's hand 'withdrawn, holding her (the countess') hand, he is shaken. Larkin envisions that this element of the statue was a feature that was added in by a 'sculptor' in order to impress the couple's friends. When he realises that this touching detail is merely a trivial alteration, Larkin feels cheated and lied to. Larkin describes this sudden realisation as a 'sharp tender shock'. the oxymoronic use of sharp and tender here highlight Larkins mixed emotions towards the tomb - he approaches the idea that the couple were in love with caution however, deep down, he wants to believe that the figures really are in love. With this 'sharp tender shock' the Rythm of the poem changes reflecting Larkins changed attitudes towards the sculptor. It is also interesting that the poem is written mostly in iambic pentameter, emphasising the idyllic 'faithfulness' that the poem has come to represent however the poem does not perfectly stick to this meter which could reflect the scepticism Larkin holds towards the legitimacy of the couple's love.
During the last stanza of the poem Larkin concludes that all that truly remains of the couple is the meaning that people have projected onto them, 'only an attitude remains'. Empires fall, the prominence and power of the Earl and his wife wanes and their identities are eroded, their lives have merely taken up a 'scrap of history' and yet one thing remains, 'love'. Larkin ends the poem undecided; he considers the interpretation of the couple as faithful lovers to be nothing more than ' almost-instinct almost true'. the love portrayed in the statue is probably just an illusion. However, despite this 'love' has 'survived' and however ephemeral this love might be it is something that connects us all, something innate in all of us.
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