Philip Larkin - An Arundel TombSide by side, their faces blurred, The earl...

An Arundel TombSide by side, their faces blurred, The earl and countess lie in stone, Their proper habits vaguely shownAs jointed armour, stiffened pleat, And that faint hint of the absurd -The little dogs under their feet. Such plainness of the pre-BaroqueHardly involves the eye, untilIt meets his left-hand gauntlett, stillClasped empty in the other, andOne sees with a sharp tender shockHis hand withdrawn, holding her hand. They would not think to lie so long, Such faithfulness in effigyWas just a detail friends would see,A sculptor's sweet commissioned graceThrown off in helping to prolongThe Latin names around the base. They would not guess how early inTheir supine stationary voyageThe air would change to soundless damage, Turn the old tenantry away; How soon succeeding eyes beingTo look, not read. Rigidly, theyPersisted, linked, through lengths and breadthsOf time. Snow fell, undated. LightEach summer thronged the grass. A brightLitter of birdcalls strewed the sameBone-littered ground. And up the pathsThe endless altered people cameWashing at their identity. Now helpless in the hollowOf an unarmorial age, a troughOf smoke in slow suspended skeinsAbove their scrap of history, Only an attitude remains. Time has transfigured them intoUntruth. The stone fidelityThey hardly meant has come to beTheir final blazon and to proveOur almost-instinct almost-true: What will survive of us is love.

Philip Larkin

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Philip Larkin Quotes

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An Arundel TombSide by side, their faces blurred, The earl and countess lie in stone, Their proper habits vaguely shownAs jointed armour, stiffened pleat, And that faint hint of the absurd -The little dogs under their feet. Such plainness of the pre-BaroqueHardly involves the eye, untilIt meets his left-hand gauntlett, stillClasped empty in the other, andOne sees with a sharp tender shockHis hand withdrawn, holding her hand. They would not think to lie so long, Such faithfulness in effigyWas just a detail friends would see,A sculptor's sweet commissioned graceThrown off in helping to prolongThe Latin names around the base. They would not guess how early inTheir supine stationary voyageThe air would change to soundless damage, Turn the old tenantry away; How soon succeeding eyes beingTo look, not read. Rigidly, theyPersisted, linked, through lengths and breadthsOf time. Snow fell, undated. LightEach summer thronged the grass. A brightLitter of birdcalls strewed the sameBone-littered ground. And up the pathsThe endless altered people cameWashing at their identity. Now helpless in the hollowOf an unarmorial age, a troughOf smoke in slow suspended skeinsAbove their scrap of history, Only an attitude remains. Time has transfigured them intoUntruth. The stone fidelityThey hardly meant has come to beTheir final blazon and to proveOur almost-instinct almost-true: What will survive of us is love. Philip Larkin

They Said So®

Keywords

arundel tombside side faces blurred earl countess lie stone proper habits vaguely shownas jointed armour stiffened pleat faint hint absurd - dogs feet plainness pre-baroquehardly involves eye untilit meets left-hand gauntlett stillclasped empty andone sees sharp tender shockhis hand withdrawn holding long faithfulness effigywas detail friends sculptor' sweet commissioned gracethrown helping prolongthe latin names base guess early intheir supine stationary voyagethe air change soundless damage turn tenantry succeeding eyes beingto read rigidly theypersisted linked lengths breadthsof time snow fell undated lighteach summer thronged grass brightlitter birdcalls strewed samebone-littered ground pathsthe endless altered people camewashing identity helpless hollowof unarmorial age troughof smoke slow suspended skeinsabove scrap history attitude remains transfigured intountruth fidelitythey meant betheir final blazon proveour -instinct -true survive love

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