An Arundel Tomb Flashcards
Who wrote Arundel Tomb
Philip Larkin
What is the main themes in this poem?
Love and Death
The Passage of Time
How is the theme of Love and death portrayed in this poem?
Larkin questions the idea if love is stronger than death. He questions that if the tomb has immortalised te feeling that is portrayed which ha never happened.
How is the theme of the passage of time portrayed in the poem?
The poem is vivid in the portrayal of the passing of time. Time is shown to affect eroding objects/subjects’ original identities gradually.
Two poems to use for comparision?
Bright Star - Love and Death
A broken appointment - Passage of time
Quote 1, Stanza 1, Line 1
“Side by side, their faces blurred”
“Side by Side, their faces blurred”
Blurred - The physical deterioration, of the tomb over time. Also, a METAPHOR, that their identity has been blurred with the passage of time.
Quote 2, Stanza 1, Line 2
“The earl and countess lie in stone”
“The earl and countess lie in stone”
Double meaning with the word “lie”, how do we know that they actually loved eachother.
Quote 3, Stanza 1, Line 5
“faint hint of the absurd-“
“faint hint of the absurd-“
The speaker finds it absurd that the two dogs lay at their feet. Dogs symbolise loyalty, and thee writer thinks it may be a facade.
Quote 4, Stanza 2, Line 1
“Such plainness of the pre-baroque”
“Such plainness of the pre-baroque”
The use of enjambement in the first two lines.
The speaker explains how the pre-baroque (pre-1600s) style is so bare and unremarkable that he could have moved on but was struck by the intimacy of the earl holding his wife’s hand.
Quote 5, Stanza 2, Line 5
“One sees, with a sharp and tender shock”
“One sees, with a sharp and tender shock”
Oxymoron to show his confusion.
Sibiliance.
