"An Arundel Tomb" was written in 1956 by the British poet Philip Larkin. It was included as the final poem in his 1964 collection The Whitsun Weddings, and is also one of his best-known works. In the poem, the speaker is looking at stone effigies of a medieval earl and countess. Surprised to see that they are depicted holding hands, the speaker sets off a complex meditation about the nature of time, mortality, and love. The tomb of the title refers to a real monument found in the Chichester Cathedral, which Larkin visited with his longtime lover Monica Jones before writing the poem. The poem is also an example of ekphrasis—writing that describes a work of art.

• Read the full text of “An Arundel Tomb”

• “An Arundel Tomb” Summary

• “An Arundel Tomb” Themes

  • 

    Time and Impermanence

    Where this theme appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-4
    • Lines 7-10
    • Line 13
    • Lines 16-18
    • Lines 19-31
    • Lines 32-36
    • Line 38
  • 

    Everlasting Love

    Where this theme appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-2
    • Lines 5-6
    • Lines 8-12
    • Lines 13-15
    • Line 16
    • Lines 17-18
    • Lines 24-26
    • Line 36
    • Lines 37-42

• Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “An Arundel Tomb”

  • Lines 1-6

    Side by side, ...
    ... under their feet.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 7-12

    Such plainness of ...
    ... holding her hand.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 13-18

    They would not ...
    ... around the base.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 19-24

    They would not ...
    ... read. Rigidly they

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 25-31

    Persisted, linked, through ...
    ... at their identity.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 32-38

    Now, helpless in ...
    ... Untruth.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 38-42

    The stone fidelity ...
    ... us is love.

    

    

    

    

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• “An Arundel Tomb” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

  • Alliteration

    

    

    

    

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    Where alliteration appears in the poem:

    • Line 1: “S,” “s”
    • Line 7: “p,” “p”
    • Line 9: “h,” “h”
    • Line 11: “sh,” “sh”
    • Line 12: “H,” “h,” “h,” “h,” “h”
    • Line 13: “l,” “l”
    • Line 16: “s,” “s”
    • Line 17: “l”
    • Line 18: “L”
    • Line 20: “s,” “s”
    • Line 22: “T,” “t”
    • Line 23: “s,” “s”
    • Line 24: “l”
    • Line 25: “l,” “l”
    • Line 26: “L”
    • Line 27: “b”
    • Line 28: “L,” “b,” “s,” “s”
    • Line 29: “B,” “p”
    • Line 30: “p”
    • Line 32: “h,” “h”
    • Line 34: “s,” “s,” “s,” “s,” “k”
    • Line 35: “s,” “c”
    • Line 37: “T,” “t”
    • Line 38: “t,” “t”
    • Line 41: “a,” “a”
    • Line 42: “W,” “w”

  • Consonance

    

    

    

    

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    Where consonance appears in the poem:

    • Line 1: “S,” “d,” “s,” “d,” “c,” “d”
    • Line 2: “n,” “ss,” “n,” “s,” “n”
    • Line 3: “n”
    • Line 4: “n,” “t,” “t,” “n,” “t”
    • Line 5: “t,” “nt,” “nt,” “d”
    • Line 6: “tt,” “d,” “n,” “d”
    • Line 7: “p,” “l,” “p”
    • Line 8: “l,” “l,” “l”
    • Line 9: “h,” “l,” “t,” “h,” “n,” “n,” “l,” “t,” “ll”
    • Line 10: “l,” “p,” “p,” “th,” “th”
    • Line 11: “sh,” “p,” “sh”
    • Line 12: “H,” “h,” “d,” “h,” “d,” “h,” “h,” “d”
    • Line 13: “l,” “l”
    • Line 14: “f,” “f,” “ff”
    • Line 16: “s,” “c,” “t,” “s,” “s,” “t,” “c,” “c”
    • Line 17: “n,” “n,” “n,” “g,” “n,” “g”
    • Line 18: “n,” “n,” “n”
    • Line 19: “ss”
    • Line 20: “s,” “s,” “g”
    • Line 21: “d,” “g,” “s,” “d,” “ss,” “d,” “g”
    • Line 22: “T,” “n,” “t,” “n,” “n,” “t,” “w”
    • Line 23: “w,” “s,” “s,” “cc,” “s”
    • Line 24: “r,” “R”
    • Line 25: “r,” “l,” “l,” “ths,” “ths”
    • Line 27: “br,” “t”
    • Line 28: “L,” “tt,” “r,” “b,” “rd,” “ll,” “r,” “d,” “s”
    • Line 29: “B,” “n,” “r,” “dd,” “l,” “d,” “n,” “d,” “p,” “p”
    • Line 30: “l,” “l,” “p,” “p,” “l”
    • Line 32: “h,” “l,” “l,” “h,” “ll”
    • Line 34: “s,” “k,” “s,” “s,” “s,” “n,” “s,” “k,” “n,” “s”
    • Line 35: “sc”
    • Line 37: “T,” “t,” “f,” “t”
    • Line 38: “t,” “t,” “f,” “d,” “l,” “t”
    • Line 39: “h,” “dl,” “m,” “h,” “m”
    • Line 40: “f,” “l,” “l”
    • Line 41: “lm,” “s,” “t,” “s,” “t,” “t,” “lm,” “s,” “t,” “t”
    • Line 42: “Wh,” “w,” “s,” “v,” “v,” “f,” “s,” “v”

  • Caesura

    

    

    

    

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    Where caesura appears in the poem:

    • Line 1: “side, their”
    • Line 4: “armour, stiffened”
    • Line 8: “eye, until”
    • Line 9: “gauntlet, still”
    • Line 10: “other; and”
    • Line 11: “sees, with”
    • Line 12: “withdrawn, holding”
    • Line 24: “look, not read. Rigidly”
    • Line 25: “Persisted, linked, through”
    • Line 26: “time. Snow fell, undated. Light”
    • Line 27: “glass. A”
    • Line 29: “ground. And”
    • Line 32: “Now, helpless”
    • Line 33: “age, a”
    • Line 38: “Untruth. The”
    • Line 40: “blazon, and”

  • Enjambment

    

    

    

    

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    Where enjambment appears in the poem:

    • Lines 3-4: “shown / As”
    • Lines 7-8: “pre-baroque / Hardly”
    • Lines 8-9: “until / It”
    • Lines 9-10: “still / Clasped”
    • Lines 10-11: “and / One”
    • Lines 14-15: “effigy / Was”
    • Lines 16-17: “grace / Thrown”
    • Lines 17-18: “prolong / The”
    • Lines 19-20: “in / Their”
    • Lines 20-21: “voyage / The”
    • Lines 23-24: “begin / To”
    • Lines 25-26: “breadths / Of”
    • Lines 26-27: “Light / Each”
    • Lines 27-28: “bright / Litter”
    • Lines 28-29: “same / Bone-riddled”
    • Lines 29-30: “paths / The”
    • Lines 32-33: “of / An”
    • Lines 33-34: “trough / Of”
    • Lines 34-35: “skeins / Above”
    • Lines 37-38: “into / Untruth”
    • Lines 39-40: “be / Their”
    • Lines 40-41: “prove / Our”

  • Metaphor

    

    

    

    

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    Where metaphor appears in the poem:

    • Line 20: “Their supine stationary voyage”
    • Lines 29-31: “And up the paths / The endless altered people came, / Washing at their identity.”
    • Lines 33-36: “a trough / Of smoke in slow suspended skeins / Above their scrap of history, / Only an attitude remains:”

  • Paradox

    

    

    

    

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    Where paradox appears in the poem:

    • Lines 24-26: “Rigidly they / Persisted, linked, through lengths and breadths / Of time.”
    • Lines 36-38: “Only an attitude remains: / Time has transfigured them into / Untruth.”
    • Lines 40-42: “and to prove / Our almost-instinct almost true: / What will survive of us is love.”

  • Oxymoron

    

    

    

    

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    Where oxymoron appears in the poem:

    • Line 11: “sharp tender shock”

  • Diacope

    

    

    

    

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    Where diacope appears in the poem:

    • Line 1: “Side,” “side”
    • Line 12: “hand,” “hand”
    • Line 41: “almost,” “almost”

• “An Arundel Tomb” Vocabulary

  Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.

  • Earl
  • Countess
  • Habits
  • Jointed Armour
  • Stiffened Pleat
  • Pre-baroque
  • Gauntlet
  • Effigy
  • Latin Names
  • Supine
  • Tenantry
  • Thronged
  • Litter
  • Strewed
  • Bone-riddled
  • Unarmorial Age
  • Trough
  • Skeins
  • Transfigured
  • Fidelity
  • Blazon
  • (Location in poem: Line 2: “earl”)

• Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “An Arundel Tomb”

  • Form

  • Meter

  • Rhyme Scheme

• “An Arundel Tomb” Speaker

• “An Arundel Tomb” Setting

• Literary and Historical Context of “An Arundel Tomb”

• More “An Arundel Tomb” Resources

  • External Resources

    • Larkin's Letters — An article that reviews a publication of Larkin's correspondence with his mother. 

    • Larkin and Music — Larkin—a jazz aficionado—chooses his favorite pieces of music.

    • A Reading by Larkin Himself — "An Arundel Tomb" read by its author. 

    • More Poems and Larkin's Biography — Further resources on Larkin from the Poetry Foundation. 

    • Larkin's Life and Work — A short radio documentary about Larkin produced by the BBC. 

  • LitCharts on Other Poems by Philip Larkin

    • Afternoons

    • A Study of Reading Habits

    • Church Going

    • Coming

    • Home Is So Sad

    • MCMXIV

    • Money

    • Mr Bleaney

    • Next, Please

    • Poetry of Departures

    • Talking in Bed

    • The Trees

    • The Whitsun Weddings

    • This Be The Verse

    • Water

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