Larkin confines complexity within the boundaries of a typically structured poem that follows an ABBAB pattern. In the context of the sixties he seems to be portraying the rigidity of society up until then and how sinful ideas were locked up; either physically or masked by implicit innuendo, "The Chatterly ban and The Beatles firt LP", which are both expressions of promiscuity. Larkin thus seems to be mirroring this idea of containement and creating a puzzle of a poem that on the surface appears clean but beyond shows its true meaning.
The second stanza and the third imply the peak and then calm of sexual activity, even to the blunt point of suggesting orgasm as the second stanza begins with the word "Up". "A sort of bargaining, a wrangle for a ring" may describe the somewhat wholesome idea of marriage before sex in juxtaposition with the idea of both prostitution and the wrangle for the female form. "A quite unlosable game" Larkin suggests sexual paralysis, a boredom with sex almsost as it becomes so readily available. The concluding stanza continues with this mood with "so life was never better" an overtly sarcastic statement that describes the untranslated "Annus Mirabilis" with connotations of misery but which actually translates to joy, in a way that shows Larkin's ability to express his frank and negative opinion without even having to state it - facilitating a rare use of allusion to make the point for him.
2. How can you compare "An Arundel Tomb" with "Talking in Bed"?
Isolation is the main point of comparison between these two poems, namely the isolation someone may feel whilst in the presence of another. In "An Arundel Tomb" a couple lay for eternity in an "effigy" portraying a "blurred" image of love, "A sculptor's sweet commissioned grace" and a "blazon" of their relationship. This is similar to the "emblem" Larkin speaks of in "talking in Bed" whereby he states that when in bed with someone you are recreating "an emblem of two people being honest". This honesty seems distorted in "An Arundel Tomb", specifically by the repetition of the pun "lie" in reference to dishonesty rather than the horizontal position. Indeed the phrase "baroque" suggests some showy gesture of affection and an embellishment of the true. The Earl seems almost to surrender to the inevitable display of love, removing his "left hand gauntlet" from his hand in order to hold hers.
"Talking in Bed" mirrors this idea of embellishment, "A unique distance from isolation" though meaningless words and art may be used you are always ultimately left alone - distanced from your lover (or indeed anyone) by your own being. Almost entrapment, lying with someone merely exaggerates this isolation as whilst words may be "not untrue and not unkind" the use of the "un" prefix suggests an absence of the word in its entirity.
Both entrapment and absence occur in "An Arundel Tomb" however it is far more literal, being entrapped by "stone", "stiffened" and "rigid". Larkin also uses the prefix "un" to describe the deciet within this stoney fidelity. Whilst our "almost instict is almost true" there again lay an absence of honest and unembellished love.
The poems differences occur in their form. "Talking in Bed" is an autobiographical account whilst "An Arundel Tomb" is a more descriptive view of something. The former therefore may give us more insight into LArkin's lititary persona; a complex one that seems unable to commit to positivity, always masking it with a negative, i.e. "un", to indirectly describe it. In this way he seems to describe his own struggle in finding the words to say when within a relationship and the incompletion he feels.
3. What is wrong with labelling Larkin as a pessimist?
Though Larkin appears a pessimist, particularly in "This Be The Verse", he is implicitly ironic and his frankness shows an almost amusing account of the truth in its barest form. For example, "They fuck you up your mum and dad" is the most memorable and shocking introduction to a poem this side of the 20th century and almost subconciously one laughs at his explicit tone. However, as seen in "Annus Mirabilis" the almost disregarding way n which he enters the poem signposts a far more implicit meaning that harnesses an element of truth.
Larkin shows a desire in both "Talking in Bed" and "An Arundel Tomb" to find positivity stating that words are "not untrue and not unkind", however he seems unwilling to admit or commit to something he doesn't wholly believe in or believe is present. He seems to deliver truth to the reader and though he may never find completion he can but indirectly seek it as he shows he does throughout his work.
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