An Arundel Tomb

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An Arundel Tomb is a poem by Philip Larkin, published in 1964 in his collection The Whitsun Weddings. It comprises 7 verses of 6 lines each, each rhyming abbcac.

The poem describes a medieval tomb, which can be found in Chichester cathedral; the tomb is of a medieval lord, (Richard FitzAlan, Earl of Arundel), and his lady, (Eleanor of Lancaster, his 2nd wife), with their dogs at their feet. He has his right hand ungloved and her right hand rests lightly upon his.

Larkin uses this scene to muse on time, mortality and the limits of earthly love.

It begins thus:-

Side by side, their faces blurred,

The earl and countess lie in stone,

and concludes

Our almost-instinct almost true:

What will survive of us is love.

Most commentators see this final couplet as a positive affirmation, but some others see in it a lugubrious Larkin-statement of the opposite (namely a weak statement of hope in the face of reality).

The poem is one of the three read at Larkin's memorial service.